American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2014
Body Composition and Mortality after Adult Lung Transplantation in the United States.
Obesity and underweight are contraindications to lung transplantation based on their associations with mortality in studies performed before implementation of the lung allocation score (LAS)-based organ allocation system in the United States Objectives: To determine the associations of body mass index (BMI) and plasma leptin levels with survival after lung transplantation. ⋯ A BMI of 30.0-34.9 kg/m(2) is not associated with 1-year mortality after lung transplantation in the LAS era, perhaps because of its low sensitivity for obesity. The association between leptin and mortality suggests the need to validate alternative methods to measure obesity in candidates for lung transplantation. A BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m(2) may no longer contraindicate lung transplantation.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2014
Forced Expiratory Volume in One Second Decline in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Associated with Biomass Exposure.
Biomass exposure is an important risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the time-course behavior of FEV1 in subjects exposed to biomass is unknown. ⋯ In the biomass exposure COPD group the rate of FEV1 decline is slower and shows a more homogeneous rate of decline over time in comparison with smokers. The rapid rate of FEV1 decline is a rare feature of biomass-induced airflow limitation.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2014
Interleukin-26 in Antibacterial Host Defense of Human Lungs: Effects on Neutrophil Mobilization.
The role of the presumed Th17 cytokine IL-26 in antibacterial host defense of the lungs is not known. ⋯ This study implies that alveolar macrophages produce IL-26, which stimulates receptors on neutrophils and focuses their mobilization toward bacteria and accumulated immune cells in human lungs.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2014
Risk of Tuberculosis After Recent Exposure: a 10-year Follow-up Study of Contacts in Amsterdam.
The lifetime risk of tuberculosis (TB) for infected contacts is often mentioned to be 5-10%, but these estimates are based on studies conducted decades ago, and thus may not reflect current epidemiologic conditions. ⋯ Five-year risk of TB among contacts with evidence of infection was higher compared with older estimates, and differed considerably by age. Incidence of TB among contacts with LTBI was low, suggesting limited impact may be expected of expanding preventive therapy.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Nov 2014
The Sphingosine Kinase 1 / Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Pathway in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.
Sphingosine kinases (SphKs) 1 and 2 regulate the synthesis of the bioactive sphingolipid sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), an important lipid mediator that promotes cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. ⋯ The SphK1/S1P axis is a novel pathway in PAH that promotes PASMC proliferation, a major contributor to pulmonary vascular remodeling. Our results suggest that this pathway is a potential therapeutic target in PAH.