Background: Heterogeneity is an inherent nature of ARDS. Recruitment-to-inflation ratio has been developed to identify the patients who has lung recruitablity. This technique might be useful to identify the patients that match specific interventions, such as higher positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) or prone position or both.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cuff leak test (CLT) has been widely accepted as a simple and noninvasive method for predicting post-extubation stridor (PES). However, its accuracy and clinical impact remain uncertain. We aimed to evaluate the reliability of CLT and to assess the impact of pre-extubation variables on the incidence of PES.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Primary cultured hepatocytes are an important model for early safety evaluations of newly developed drugs. Many factors, however, hinder the wider applications of this technology, especially the difficulty to maintain these cells in long-term culture. To date, creating a stable supply of human or animal hepatocytes with proper hepatic function has not been achieved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Benzodiazepines are widely used for anesthesia and sedation and have immunomodulatory properties that may negatively influence clinical outcomes; however, the cellular targets and intermediary signaling pathways involved are unclear. We examined the immunomodulatory effects of the benzodiazepine midazolam on human macrophages and associated molecular mechanisms.
Methods: We analyzed effects of midazolam pretreatment on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced upregulation of the costimulatory molecule CD80 and secretion of the pro-inflammatory factors interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-10, and nitric oxide (NO) in the human monocyte-macrophage cell line THP-1 and in peripheral monocyte-derived macrophages (PMDMs).
BACKGROUND Haloperidol, a tranquilizing agent, is administered both to treat symptoms of psychotic disorders and to sedate agitated and delirious patients. Notably, haloperidol has been suggested to inhibit the immune response through unknown mechanisms. We hypothesized that the sedative modulates the immune response via NF-κB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) staging is widely used, it has been suggested that classification using serum creatinine levels, which fluctuate because of fluid balance, is not always appropriate for acute kidney injury (AKI) detection. We hypothesized that some patients are misdiagnosed as having no AKI due to dilution resulting from intraoperative infusion, and have worse outcomes than typical patients with no AKI.
Methods: We retrospectively selected patients who did not fulfill the AKI criteria from those who underwent cardiac surgery and remained in an intensive care unit (ICU) for ≥7 days.