American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2012
Inhaled glucocorticoids during pregnancy and offspring pediatric diseases: a national cohort study.
Glucocorticoid inhalation is the preferred asthma treatment during pregnancy. Previous studies on its safety focused on obstetric outcomes and offspring malformations. ⋯ Regarding most disease categories, data are reassuring, supporting the use of inhaled glucocorticoids during pregnancy. In line with animal data, glucocorticoid inhalation during pregnancy may be a risk factor for offspring endocrine and metabolic disturbances, which should be considered further.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2012
Regulation of transforming growth factor-β1-driven lung fibrosis by galectin-3.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic dysregulated response to alveolar epithelial injury with differentiation of epithelial cells and fibroblasts into matrix-secreting myofibroblasts resulting in lung scaring. The prognosis is poor and there are no effective therapies or reliable biomarkers. Galectin-3 is a β-galactoside binding lectin that is highly expressed in fibrotic tissue of diverse etiologies. ⋯ This study identifies galectin-3 as an important regulator of lung fibrosis and provides a proof of principle for galectin-3 inhibition as a potential novel therapeutic strategy for IPF.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2012
Critical role of the axonal guidance cue EphrinB2 in lung growth, angiogenesis, and repair.
Lung diseases characterized by alveolar damage currently lack efficient treatments. The mechanisms contributing to normal and impaired alveolar growth and repair are incompletely understood. Axonal guidance cues (AGC) are molecules that guide the outgrowth of axons to their targets. Among these AGCs, members of the Ephrin family also promote angiogenesis, cell migration, and organogenesis outside the nervous system. The role of Ephrins during alveolar growth and repair is unknown. ⋯ The AGC EphrinB2 may be a new therapeutic target for lung repair and pulmonary hypertension.