Clinical Presentations, Pathogenesis, and Therapy of Sarcoidosis: State of the Art.

Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease of unknown etiology characterized by the presence of noncaseating granulomas that can occur in any organ, most commonly the lungs. Early and accurate diagnosis of sarcoidosis remains challenging because initial presentations may vary, many patients are asymptomatic, and there is no single reliable diagnostic test. Prognosis is variable and depends on epidemiologic factors, mode of onset, initial clinical course, and specific organ involvement.

Epigenetic landscape links upper airway microbiota in infancy with allergic rhinitis at 6 years of age.

Background: The upper airways present a barrier to inhaled allergens and microbes, which alter immune responses and subsequent risk for diseases, such as allergic rhinitis (AR).

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that early-life microbial exposures leave a lasting signature in DNA methylation that ultimately influences the development of AR in children.

Methods: We studied upper airway microbiota at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months of life, and measured DNA methylation and gene expression profiles in upper airway mucosal cells and assessed AR at age 6 years in children in the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood birth cohort.

Fetal Origins of Asthma: A Longitudinal Study from Birth to Age 36 Years.

Deficits in infant lung function-including the ratio of the time to reach peak tidal expiratory flow to the total expiratory time (tptef/te) and maximal expiratory flow at FRC (V̇maxFRC)-have been linked to increased risk for childhood asthma. To examine the individual and combined effects of tptef/te and V̇maxFRC in infancy on risk for asthma and abnormalities of airway structure into mid-adult life. One hundred eighty participants in the Tucson Children's Respiratory Study birth cohort had lung function measured by the chest-compression technique in infancy (mean age ± SD: 2.

A deep learning-based algorithm for detection of cortical arousal during sleep.

Study Objectives: The frequency of cortical arousals is an indicator of sleep quality. Additionally, cortical arousals are used to identify hypopneic events. However, it is inconvenient to record electroencephalogram (EEG) data during home sleep testing.

A 20-Mer Peptide Derived from the Lectin Domain of Decreases Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Production during Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection.

Human surfactant protein-A2 (hSP-A2) is a component of pulmonary surfactant that plays an important role in the lung's immune system by interacting with viruses, bacteria, and fungi to facilitate pathogen clearance and by downregulating inflammatory responses after an allergic challenge. Genetic variation in SP-A2 at position Gln223Lys is present in up to ∼30% of the population and has been associated with several lung diseases, such as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, and lung cancer (M. M.

Evidence for Exacerbation-Prone Asthma and Predictive Biomarkers of Exacerbation Frequency.

Cross-sectional studies suggest an exacerbation-prone asthma (EPA) phenotype and the utility of blood eosinophils and plasma IL-6 as predictive biomarkers. To prospectively test for EPA phenotype and utility of baseline blood measures of eosinophils and IL-6 as predictive biomarkers. Three-year asthma exacerbation data were analyzed in 406 adults in the Severe Asthma Research Program-3.

COVID-19, asthma, and biological therapies: What we need to know.

Managing patients with severe asthma during the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 is a challenge. Authorities and physicians are still learning how COVID-19 affects people with underlying diseases, and severe asthma is not an exception. Unless relevant data emerge that change our understanding of the relative safety of medications indicated in patients with asthma during this pandemic, clinicians must follow the recommendations of current evidence-based guidelines for preventing loss of control and exacerbations.

Type 2 inflammation modulates ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in airway epithelial cells.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has dramatically changed our world, country, communities, and families. There is controversy regarding risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease. It has been suggested that asthma and allergy are not highly represented as comorbid conditions associated with COVID-19.

Expression quantitative trait locus fine mapping of the 17q12-21 asthma locus in African American children: a genetic association and gene expression study.

Background: African ancestry is associated with a higher prevalence and greater severity of asthma than European ancestries, yet genetic studies of the most common locus associated with childhood-onset asthma, 17q12-21, in African Americans have been inconclusive. The aim of this study was to leverage both the phenotyping of the Children's Respiratory and Environmental Workgroup (CREW) birth cohort consortium, and the reduced linkage disequilibrium in African Americans, to fine map the 17q12-21 locus.

Methods: We first did a genetic association study and meta-analysis using 17q12-21 tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for childhood-onset asthma in 1613 European American and 870 African American children from the CREW consortium.

High cytomegalovirus serology and subsequent COPD-related mortality: a longitudinal study.

Background: Positive serology for cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been associated with all-cause mortality risk but its role in COPD mortality is unknown. The objective of the present study was to assess the relationship between CMV serology and COPD mortality.

Methods: We analysed data from 806 participants in the Tucson Epidemiological Study of Airway Obstructive Disease who, at enrolment, were aged 28-70 years and had completed lung function tests.

Lung Function in African American Children with Asthma Is Associated with Novel Regulatory Variants of the KIT Ligand and Gene-By-Air-Pollution Interaction.

Baseline lung function, quantified as forced expiratory volume in the first second of exhalation (FEV), is a standard diagnostic criterion used by clinicians to identify and classify lung diseases. Using whole-genome sequencing data from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine project, we identified a novel genetic association with FEV on chromosome 12 in 867 African American children with asthma ( = 1.26 × 10, β = 0.

A novel whole blood gene expression signature for asthma, dermatitis, and rhinitis multimorbidity in children and adolescents.

Background: Allergic diseases often occur in combination (multimorbidity). Human blood transcriptome studies have not addressed multimorbidity. Large-scale gene expression data were combined to retrieve biomarkers and signaling pathways to disentangle allergic multimorbidity phenotypes.

Surfactant Protein-A Protects against IL-13-Induced Inflammation in Asthma.

The lung surfactant proteins are recognized as critical not only for their role in lowering lung surface tension but also in innate host defense. Reports have shown that some asthmatic patients have decreased levels of one member of this protein family in particular, surfactant protein-A (SP-A). Our studies set out to determine the contribution of SP-A to the response of a key effector cytokine in asthma, IL-13.

Cytotoxicity Assessment of Gallium- and Indium-Based Nanoparticles Toward Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells Using an Impedance-Based Real-Time Cell Analyzer.

The semiconductor manufacturing sector plans to introduce III/V film structures (eg, gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium arsenide (InAs) onto silicon wafers due to their high electron mobility and low power consumption. Aqueous solutions generated during chemical and mechanical planarization of silicon wafers can contain a mixture of metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) and soluble indium, gallium, and arsenic. In this work, the cytotoxicity induced by Ga- and In-based NPs (GaAs, InAs, GaO, InO) and soluble III-V salts on human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE14o-) was evaluated using a cell impedance real-time cell analysis (RTCA) system.

Using fractional exhaled nitric oxide to guide step-down treatment decisions in patients with asthma: a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis.

Background: High exhaled nitric oxide fraction ( ) levels are associated with greater risk of asthma exacerbation. However, it is not clear how can be used to guide safe reductions in inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) doses in asthma patients. This study assesses the ability of to guide ICS reductions.

Lung MRI as a Potential Complementary Diagnostic Tool for Early COPD.

Introduction: Many knowledge gaps in the nature of early chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) still exist, mainly because COPD has always been considered a disease of the elderly. Little attention has been paid to the pathologic changes in the lungs of young adults with risk factors for COPD, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia. One major limitation is the current lack of noninvasive ways to sensitively measure or image functional declines from subjects who are at risk for COPD but haven't yet developed more significant clinical symptoms of the disease.

Sleep patterns and sleep deprivation recorded by actigraphy in 4th-grade and 5th-grade students.

Objective: This study investigates sleep patterns of fourth- and fifth-grade students using actigraphy.

Methods: The study included 257 students enrolled in a Southwestern US school district who participated in a novel sleep science curriculum during the Spring 2016-17 and Fall 2017-18 semesters and met the study inclusion criteria. As part of this curriculum, participants underwent 5-7 days of continuous wrist actigraphy and completed an online sleep diary.