A 49-Year-Old Man With Fever and Dyspnea After Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy.

A 49-year-old man, a farmer, had been experiencing coughing, phlegm, and difficulty breathing for 2 months. He underwent a CT scan at a local hospital that showed a mediastinal mass. Bronchoscopy showed no obstruction in the tracheal lumen, and an endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial fine needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) biopsy was performed on the mediastinal mass.

Blood Eosinophil Count and Its Determinants in a Chinese Population-Based Cohort.

Introduction: Blood eosinophil count has been shown markedly variable across different populations. However, its distribution in Chinese general population remains unclear. We aimed to investigate blood eosinophil count and its determinants in a Chinese general population.

Identifying miRNA Modules and Related Pathways of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Associated Emphysema by Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous chronic inflammatory disease characterized by progressive airflow limitation that causes high morbidity and mortality. MicroRNA, a short-chain noncoding RNA, regulates gene expression at the transcriptional level. microRNA modules with a role in the pathogenesis of COPD may serve as COPD biomarkers.

Clinical Predictors of High Blood Eosinophils in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Purpose: Elevated blood eosinophils have been implicated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) progression and exacerbation. We aim to investigate clinical predictors of high blood eosinophils in a Chinese COPD cohort.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in Sichuan province, a Southwest province with high prevalence of COPD in China.

The prognostic values of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio for outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is considered as an inflammatory biomarker for clinical outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic values of NLR for the exacerbation and mortality in patients with COPD.

Methods: We searched the database of Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, and PubMed, before September 2017.

Diagnostic Performance of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid CD4/CD8 Ratio for Sarcoidosis: A Meta-analysis.

Background: The usefulness of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) CD4/CD8 ratio for diagnosing sarcoidosis has been reported in many studies with variable results. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to estimate the overall diagnostic accuracy of BALF CD4/CD8 ratio based on the bulk of published evidence.

Methods: Studies published prior to June 2015 and indexed in PubMed, OVID, Web of Science, Scopus and other databases were evaluated for inclusion.

Diagnostic value of thyroid transcription factor-1 for pleural or other serous metastases of pulmonary adenocarcinoma: a meta-analysis.

The role of thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) in the diagnosis of metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinomas in pleural, pericardial, and peritoneal effusions has not been defined. This study aimed to assess the overall diagnostic accuracy of TTF-1 for metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinomas in pleural or other effusions. Literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, and other databases to find eligible publications.

WNT/β-catenin signaling regulates cigarette smoke-induced airway inflammation via the PPARδ/p38 pathway.

The mechanisms of WNT/β-catenin signaling involved in airway inflammation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remain unknown, although recent observations have suggested an important contribution of the pathway in pulmonary parenchymal tissue repair and airway epithelium differentiation. We investigated the role of WNT/β-catenin signaling in cigarette smoke (CS)-related airway inflammation using patient lung tissues, human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBECs), and mouse models. Reduced activity of WNT/β-catenin signaling was observed in the airway epithelium of smokers with or without COPD.

RAGE-ligands axis: A new 'driving force' for cigarette smoke-induced airway inflammation in COPD?

Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) was recently shown to contribute to cigarette smoke (CS)-induced airway inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, RAGE small interfering ribonucleic acid (RNA) transfection attenuated increased messenger RNA levels of common RAGE ligands HMGB1, S100A8, S100A9 and S100A12, but not S100B following exposure to CS extract. Our findings and those from recent studies suggest a positive feedback involving RAGE and its ligands as a new 'driving force' for CS-induced airway inflammation in COPD.

The rs7003908 (T>G) polymorphism in the XRCC7 gene and the risk of cancers.

The association between the rs7003908 (T>G) polymorphism in the XRCC7 gene and the risk of cancers had been widely studied; however, the results were inconsistent. The objective of the current study was to investigate the association between the rs7003908 polymorphism in the XRCC7 gene and the risk of cancers by meta-analysis. We searched PubMed, EMbase, CNKI and Wanfang databases; the last search was performed on January 10th, 2014.

Overexpression of RAGE contributes to cigarette smoke-induced nitric oxide generation in COPD.

Background: Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), a multiple-ligands receptor, is implicated in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study was designed to investigate the potential role of RAGE in nitric oxide (NO) generation, an endogenous marker of nitrosative stress in COPD.

Methods: Lung tissues from COPD patients were used to describe the relationship between RAGE expression and NO level.

Resolvin-D1 inhibits interleukin-8 and hydrogen peroxide production induced by cigarette smoke extract in 16HBE cells via attenuating NF-κB activation.

Background: Cigarette smoke induced airway inflammation plays a role in pathogenesis of airway inflammation. Resolvin-D1 derived from omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is an endogenous anti-inflammatory and proresolving lipid mediator. Resolvin-D1 ameliorated inflammatory responses in lung injury, asthma, peritonitis and atherosclerosis.

Increased expression of heat shock protein 70 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) plays a critical role in the process of inflammation and innate immunity response under environmental stress.

Objectives: This study was to investigate HSP70 expression in the peripheral lung tissues of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and in human bronchial epithelial cells (16-HBE) exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE).

Methods: Peripheral lung tissues were collected after lung cancer resection from 26 patients without COPD, 20 with mild COPD and 15 with advanced COPD, classified by lung function criteria.

Blocking of thromboxane A₂ receptor attenuates airway mucus hyperproduction induced by cigarette smoke.

Cigarette smoking is one of the risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study, we investigated the effects of thromboxane A2 (TxA2) receptor antagonists on airway mucus production induced by cigarette smoke. Rats were exposed to cigarette smoke 1h/day, 6 days/week for 4 weeks.

Resolvin D1 attenuates inflammation in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury through a process involving the PPARγ/NF-κB pathway.

Background: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and DHA-derived lipid mediators have recently been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving properties. In fact, DHA can down-regulate lipolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of NF-κB via a PPARγ-dependent pathway. We sought to investigate the effects of the novel DHA-derived mediator resolvin D1 (RvD1) on LPS-induced acute lung injury and to determine whether these effects occur via a PPARγ-dependent pathway.

Enhanced expression of human β-defensin 2 in peripheral lungs of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Human β-defensin 2 (hBD-2) has antimicrobial activity and may play a role in airway mucosal defense, but studies have not yet examined its expression in lung tissue of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Here we investigated hBD-2 levels in lung tissues of COPD patients and analyzed their correlations with IL-8, IL-1β, cigarette smoking and lung function in order to see whether the protein may be involved in pathogenesis of the disease. Peripheral lung tissue specimens were obtained from 51 patients who underwent lung resection for peripheral lung cancer: healthy non-smokers (n=8), healthy current smokers (n=7), non-smokers with COPD (n=11), and current smokers with COPD (n=25).

Silencing of c-kit with small interference RNA attenuates inflammation in a murine model of allergic asthma.

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by the inflammation of the airways due to infiltration and activation of several inflammatory cells that produce cytokines. c-kit, a proto-oncogene that encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor, has been found to be associated with allergic inflammation. The aim of the present study was to assess whether silencing of c-kit with small interference RNA (siRNA) would attenuate inflammation in allergic asthma.

Quercetin attenuates airway inflammation and mucus production induced by cigarette smoke in rats.

Mucus hypersecretion is a feature of many chronic airway diseases induced by cigarette smoke (CS), and evidence suggests that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory flavonoid quercetin may protect against CS-induced respiratory pathology. In this study, the ability of quercetin to protect against CS-induced mucin expression was examined in vivo and in vitro. Quercetin or 0.

Losartan attenuates chronic cigarette smoke exposure-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in rats: possible involvement of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2.

Chronic cigarette smoking induces pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) by largely unknown mechanisms. Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is known to function in the development of PAH. Losartan, a specific angiotensin II receptor antagonist, is a well-known antihypertensive drug with a potential role in regulating angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2), a recently found regulator of RAS.

p38 MAPK and MMP-9 cooperatively regulate mucus overproduction in mice exposed to acrolein fog.

Objective: To evaluate the role of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) on mice airway inflammation, mucus production and the possible cross-talk between p38 MAPK and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in mucin protein synthesis.

Methods: Mice were exposed to 4.0 ppm of acrolein for 21 days with daily intraperitoneal injection of SB203580, a specific inhibitor of p38 MAPK.