American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Dec 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyRandomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study of Brodalumab, a Human Anti-IL-17 Receptor Monoclonal Antibody, in Moderate to Severe Asthma.
IL-17 signaling has been implicated in development and persistence of asthma. Cytokine-targeted strategies blocking IL-17 receptor signaling may be beneficial in asthma treatment. ⋯ Inhibition of IL-17 receptor A did not produce a treatment effect in subjects with asthma. The results of the high-reversibility subgroup analysis are of uncertain significance, requiring further study of brodalumab in this asthma subpopulation. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01199289).
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Dec 2013
Short-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Lung Function in the Framingham Heart Study.
Short-term exposure to ambient air pollution has been associated with lower lung function. Few studies have examined whether these associations are detectable at relatively low levels of pollution within current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. ⋯ Short-term exposure to PM2.5, NO2, and O3 within current EPA standards was associated with lower lung function in this cohort of adults.
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Locomotor muscle atrophy develops in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) partly because of increased protein degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. It is not known if autophagy also contributes to protein degradation. ⋯ Autophagy is significantly enhanced in locomotor muscles of stable patients with COPD. The degree of autophagy correlates with severity of muscle atrophy and lung function impairment.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Dec 2013
Hypoxia Promotes Danger-Mediated Inflammation via RAGE in Cystic Fibrosis.
Hypoxia regulates the inflammatory-antiinflammatory balance by the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), a versatile sensor of damage-associated molecular patterns. The multiligand nature of RAGE places this receptor in the midst of chronic inflammatory diseases. ⋯ A causal link between hyperactivation of RAGE and inflammation in CF has been observed, such that targeting pathogenic inflammation alleviated inflammation in CF and measurement of sRAGE levels could be a useful biomarker for RAGE-dependent inflammation in patients with CF.