International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Haemophilus influenzae and smoking-related obstructive airways disease.
Intralumenal bacteria play a critical role in the pathogenesis of acute infective episodes and airway inflammation. Antigens from colonizing bacteria such as nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) may contribute to chronic lung disease through an immediate hypersensitivity response. The objective of this study was to determine the presence of specific NTHi-IgE antibodies in subjects with chronic bronchitis (CB) and COPD who had smoked. ⋯ The detection of IgE antibody to colonizing bacteria in all subjects with CB or moderate-severe COPD identifies a possible mechanism of bronchospasm in these subjects amenable to specific intervention therapy.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Vitamin D and responses to inhaled fluticasone in severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) demonstrate variable responses to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). The factors contributing to this variability are not well understood. Data from patients with asthma have suggested that low 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels contribute to a lack of ICS response in asthma. The objective of this study was to determine whether serum levels of 25(OH)D were related to ICS responses in patients with COPD. ⋯ Baseline 25(OH)D does not contribute to the variation in short-term FEV(1) responses to ICS in patients with severe COPD.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Prevalence and risk factors for unrecognized obstructive lung disease among urban drug users.
Obstructive lung disease (OLD) is frequently unrecognized and undertreated. Urban drug users are at higher risk for OLD due to race, behavioral, and socioeconomic characteristics, yet little data exist on prevalence and risk factors associated with unrecognized OLD in this population. ⋯ In a cohort of current and former urban drug users, OLD is substantially underrecognized and associated with lack of respiratory symptoms. Relying on the presence of respiratory symptoms as a trigger to perform spirometry may result in a substantial underdiagnosis of OLD in this population. HIV-infected individuals receiving ART are a population particularly vulnerable to unrecognized OLD.
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To determine the importance of spirometric testing for early detection of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). ⋯ These results suggest that spirometry testing could detect patients with COPD in the earlier stages of the disease.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2011
Induction of the unfolded protein response by cigarette smoke is primarily an activating transcription factor 4-C/EBP homologous protein mediated process.
Cigarette smoke is the major risk factor associated with the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Recent studies propose a link between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and emphysema, demonstrated by increased ER stress markers under smoking conditions. Here, we investigate whether cigarette smoke-induced ER stress is cell specific and correlates with acute and chronic cigarette smoke exposure. ⋯ A trend increase in CHOP levels appear in multiple human lung cell types following acute cigarette smoke exposure in vitro. In vivo, inflammatory cells, predominately macrophages, demonstrate significant cigarette smoke-induced ER stress. Early induction of CHOP in cigarette smoke may play a pivotal role in early induction of lung disease, however in vivo long-term cigarette smoke exposure exhibited a reduction in the ER stress response.