Association of coronary artery calcification with clinical and physiological characteristics in patients with COPD: Results from COSYCONET.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is frequently associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). When considering computed tomography (CT) for COPD phenotyping, coronary vessel wall calcification would be a potential marker of cardiac disease. However, non-ECG gated scans as used in COPD monitoring do not comply with established quantitative approaches using ECG-triggered CT and the Agatston score.

Costs of Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Interventions in Interstitial Lung Disease Management in Germany.

Introduction: Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are associated with a high economic burden, yet prospective data of the German healthcare system are sparse.

Objective: We assessed average ILD-related costs of pharmacological and non-pharmacological (hospitalizations, outpatient, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, and medical aids) interventions in ILD.

Methods: We used data from the multicenter, observational, prospective Exploring Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics of Interstitial Lung Diseases registry to evaluate adjusted per capita costs and cost drivers for ILD-related healthcare costs over 4 years, using generalized estimating equation regression models.

Response to high-altitude triggers in seasonal asthmatics on and off inhaled corticosteroid treatment.

Background: Due to the effects of climate change, winter sport enthusiasts will be increasingly forced to stay at higher altitudes. High altitude (HA) environmental factors such as cold temperature, physical exertion, and hypoxia with subsequent hypocapnia due to hyperventilation have been shown to induce bronchoconstriction. With bronchial asthma being highly prevalent, asthmatics also will be increasingly exposed to HA environment and might experience increasing symptoms.

Radiation-Induced Lung Injury: Prevention, Diagnostics and Therapy in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) plays an integral role in the multimodal treatment of lung cancer, breast cancer, esophageal cancer, thymoma and mesothelioma, having been used as either a definitive, neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment or for palliative intention to achieve symptom control [...

Timing of Blood Sample Processing Affects the Transcriptomic and Epigenomic Profiles in CD4 T-cells of Atopic Subjects.

Optimal pre-analytical conditions for blood sample processing and isolation of selected cell populations for subsequent transcriptomic and epigenomic studies are required to obtain robust and reproducible results. This pilot study was conducted to investigate the potential effects of timing of CD4 T-cell processing from peripheral blood of atopic and non-atopic adults on their transcriptomic and epigenetic profiles. Two heparinized blood samples were drawn from each of three atopic and three healthy individuals.

Effects of immunophilin inhibitors and non-immunosuppressive analogs on coronavirus replication in human infection models.

Rationale: Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) seriously affect human health by causing respiratory diseases ranging from common colds to severe acute respiratory diseases. Immunophilins, including peptidyl-prolyl isomerases of the FK506-binding protein (FKBP) and the cyclophilin family, are promising targets for pharmaceutical inhibition of coronavirus replication, but cell-type specific effects have not been elucidated. FKBPs and cyclophilins bind the immunosuppressive drugs FK506 and cyclosporine A (CsA), respectively.

Changes in Behavior After Vaccination and Opinions Toward Mask Wearing: Thoracic Oncology Patient-Reported Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 vaccines, face masks, and social distancing are effective interventions to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections. In this study, we aimed to determine lung cancer patients' attitudes toward vaccination, changes in behavior after vaccination, and willingness to continue mask wearing after the pandemic.

Methods: We sent out questionnaires to 220 thoracic oncology patients treated at our lung cancer center in May 2021.

Occupational exposure to nickel and hexavalent chromium and the risk of lung cancer in a pooled analysis of case-control studies (SYNERGY).

There is limited evidence regarding the exposure-effect relationship between lung-cancer risk and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) or nickel. We estimated lung-cancer risks in relation to quantitative indices of occupational exposure to Cr(VI) and nickel and their interaction with smoking habits. We pooled 14 case-control studies from Europe and Canada, including 16 901 lung-cancer cases and 20 965 control subjects.

Real-Time Measurement of Cell Mechanics as a Clinically Relevant Readout of an In Vitro Lung Fibrosis Model Established on a Bioinspired Basement Membrane.

Lung fibrosis, one of the major post-COVID complications, is a progressive and ultimately fatal disease without a cure. Here, an organ- and disease-specific in vitro mini-lung fibrosis model equipped with noninvasive real-time monitoring of cell mechanics is introduced as a functional readout. To establish an intricate multiculture model under physiologic conditions, a biomimetic ultrathin basement (biphasic elastic thin for air-liquid culture conditions, BETA) membrane (<1 µm) is developed with unique properties, including biocompatibility, permeability, and high elasticity (<10 kPa) for cell culturing under air-liquid interface and cyclic mechanical stretch conditions.

Bronchodilator Reversibility in the GAN Severe Asthma Cohort.

Background And Objective: Positive bronchodilator reversibility (BDR) is a diagnostic criterion for asthma. However, patients with asthma may exhibit a negative BDR response. Aim: To describe the frequency of positive and Negative BDR response in patients with severe asthma and study associations with phenotypic characteristics.

Statistical breathing curve sampling to quantify interplay effects of moving lung tumors in a 4D Monte Carlo dose calculation framework.

Purpose: The interplay between respiratory tumor motion and dose application by intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) techniques can potentially lead to undesirable and non-intuitive deviations from the planned dose distribution. We developed a 4D Monte Carlo (MC) dose recalculation framework featuring statistical breathing curve sampling, to precisely simulate the dose distribution for moving target volumes aiming at a comprehensive assessment of interplay effects.

Methods: We implemented a dose accumulation tool that enables dose recalculations of arbitrary breathing curves including the actual breathing curve of the patient.

Prospective evaluation of immunological, molecular-genetic, image-based and microbial analyses to characterize tumor response and control in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by consolidation therapy with durvalumab (PRECISION): protocol for a prospective longitudinal biomarker study.

Background: Concurrent platinum-based chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by durvalumab maintenance treatment represents the new standard of care in unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In this prospective hypothesis-generating single-center study, we aim to identify a framework of prognostic and predictive biomarkers by longitudinal characterization of tumor- and patient (host)-related parameters over all phases of multimodal treatment.

Methods: This study will enroll 40 patients (≥18 years, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 0-2, with a diagnosis of PD-L1 positive (≥1%), inoperable stage III NSCLC) with an indication for CRT followed by maintenance treatment with durvalumab according to European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval.

Disease Progression and Age as Factors Underlying Multimorbidity in Patients with COPD: Results from COSYCONET.

Background: Multimorbidity plays an important role in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but is also a feature of ageing. We estimated to what extent increases in the prevalence of multimorbidity over time are attributable to COPD progression compared to increasing patient age.

Methods: Patients with COPD from the long-term COSYCONET (COPD and Systemic Consequences - Comorbidities Network) cohort with four follow-up visits were included in this analysis.

Basic Determinants of Disease Knowledge in COPD Patients: Results from COSYCONET.

Introduction: In many chronic diseases, including COPD, the patients' basic knowledge of the disorder has been shown to be relevant for the course of the disease. We studied which clinical and functional characteristics were related to this knowledge as well as the patients' satisfaction with their knowledge about COPD.

Methods: The study population comprised 645 patients of GOLD grades 1-4 who participated in Visit 6 of the COSYCONET cohort (COPD and Systemic Consequences - Comorbidities Network).

Treatment patterns and prognosis of patients with inoperable stage III NSCLC after completion of concurrent chemoradiotherapy ± immune checkpoint inhibition: a decade-long single-center historical analysis.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of treatment time and patterns in inoperable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) following concurrent chemoradiotherapy (cCRT) ± immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

Methods: Patients were stratified by treatment year: A (2011-2014), B (2015-2017) and C (2018-2020). Tumor- and treatment-related characteristics regarding locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were investigated.

Long-term air pollution exposure, greenspace and health-related quality of life in the ECRHS study.

Background: Associations of long-term exposure to air pollution and greenspace with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are poorly studied and few studies have accounted for asthma-rhinitis status.

Objective: To assess the associations of air pollution and greenspace with HRQOL and whether asthma and/or rhinitis modify these associations.

Methods: The study was based on the participants in the second (2000-2002, n = 6542) and third (2011-2013, n = 3686) waves of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) including 19 centres.

Prevalence of Patients with Uncontrolled Asthma Despite NVL/GINA Step 4/5 Treatment in Germany.

Purpose: Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases in Germany affecting 4-5% of all adults and 10% of children. Despite the availability of biologicals in recent years, studies show patients with inadequately controlled severe asthma in real life. The aim of the current study was to characterize and estimate the number of patients with NVL/GINA level 4 or 5 asthma and signs of poor control in Germany.

Ambient ozone exposure and bone turnover markers in children: Results from the GINIplus and LISA birth cohorts.

Background: Multiple environmental factors can regulate bone metabolism, and it is hypothesized that air pollution may be deleteriously involved in this regulation. However, only a few studies considered bone turnover markers (BTMs) - sensitive and specific markers of bone metabolism - as outcomes, and no study investigated the exposure to ambient ozone. Here, we intended to explore the associations between long-term exposure to ambient ozone and concentrations of two BTMs, osteocalcin and β-isomer of C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTx), amongst 10-year-old children.

Differences in the Measurement of Functional Residual Capacity Between Body Plethysmographs of Two Manufacturers.

Body plethysmography is a fundamental method for the assessment of static lung volumes. Although equipment is provided by several manufacturers, there are no established cross-vendor tools for quality control. In the process of quality control and analysis of data on hyperinflation from the large COPD cohort COSYCONET, hints appeared that plethysmographs of different vendors might yield different values for static lung volumes.

Sex-specific associations of comorbidome and pulmorbidome with mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: results from COSYCONET.

In patients with COPD, it has not been comprehensively assessed whether the predictive value of comorbidities for mortality differs between men and women. We therefore aimed to examine sex differences of COPD comorbidities in regard with prognosis by classifying comorbidities into a comorbidome related to extrapulmonary disorders and a pulmorbidome, referring to pulmonary disorders. The study population comprised 1044 women and 1531 men with the diagnosis of COPD from COSYCONET, among them 2175 of GOLD grades 1-4 and 400 at risk.

IgA memory B-cells are significantly increased in patients with asthma and small airway dysfunction.

Background: Comprehensive studies investigated the role of T-cells in asthma which led to personalised treatment options targeting severe eosinophilic asthma. However, little is known about the contribution of B-cells to this chronic inflammatory disease. In this study we investigated the contribution of various B-cell populations to specific clinical features in asthma.

International Travel as a Risk Factor for Carriage of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing in a Large Sample of European Individuals-The AWARE Study.

Antibiotic resistance (AR) is currently a major threat to global health, calling for a One Health approach to be properly understood, monitored, tackled, and managed. Potential risk factors for AR are often studied in specific high-risk populations, but are still poorly understood in the general population. Our aim was to explore, describe, and characterize potential risk factors for carriage of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-resistant (ESBL-EC) in a large sample of European individuals aged between 16 and 67 years recruited from the general population in Southern Germany, the Netherlands, and Romania.

Stimulation of the EP receptor causes lung oedema by activation of TRPC6 in pulmonary endothelial cells.

Background: Prostaglandin E (PGE) increases pulmonary vascular permeability by activation of the PGE receptor 3 (EP), which may explain adverse pulmonary effects of the EP/EP receptor agonist sulprostone in patients. In addition, PGE contributes to pulmonary oedema in response to platelet-activating factor (PAF). PAF increases endothelial permeability by recruiting the cation channel transient receptor potential canonical 6 (TRPC6) to endothelial caveolae acid sphingomyelinase (ASMase).

Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Lung Cancer Risk: Results from a Pooled Analysis of Case-Control Studies (SYNERGY).

Background: Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) occurs widely in occupational settings. We investigated the association between occupational exposure to PAH and lung cancer risk and joint effects with smoking within the SYNERGY project.

Methods: We pooled 14 case-control studies with information on lifetime occupational and smoking histories conducted between 1985 and 2010 in Europe and Canada.