American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Sep 2017
Randomized Controlled TrialVitamin C Prevents Offspring DNA Methylation Changes Associated with Maternal Smoking in Pregnancy.
Infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy demonstrate lifelong decreases in pulmonary function. DNA methylation changes associated with maternal smoking during pregnancy have been described in placenta and cord blood at delivery, in fetal lung, and in buccal epithelium and blood during childhood. We demonstrated in a randomized clinical trial ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT00632476) that vitamin C supplementation to pregnant smokers can lessen the impact of maternal smoking on offspring pulmonary function and decrease the incidence of wheeze at 1 year of age. ⋯ We identified a pattern of normalization in DNA methylation by vitamin C supplementation across multiple loci. The consistency of this pattern across tissues and time suggests a systemic and persistent effect on offspring DNA methylation. Further work is necessary to determine how genome-wide changes in DNA methylation may mediate or reflect persistent effects of maternal smoking on lung function.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Sep 2017
Comparative StudyPirfenidone Reduces Respiratory-related Hospitalizations in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.
Respiratory-related hospitalizations of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are more frequent than those for acute IPF exacerbations and are associated with poor outcomes. ⋯ In a pooled analysis of three phase III IPF clinical trials, patients receiving pirfenidone had a lower risk of nonelective respiratory-related hospitalization over the course of 1 year. The effect of pirfenidone on death after hospitalization is uncertain.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Sep 2017
Differential Recognition of Mtb-specific Epitopes as a Function of Tuberculosis Disease History.
Individuals with a history of tuberculosis (TB) disease are at elevated risk of disease recurrence. The underlying cause is not known, but one explanation is that previous disease results in less-effective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). ⋯ Preferential loss of T-cell reactivity to Mtb epitopes that are homologous to bacteria in the microbiome in persons with previous TB disease may reflect long-term effects of antibiotic TB treatment on the microbiome.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Sep 2017
Allergen-induced Increases in Sputum Levels of Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells in Asthmatic Subjects.
Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2), a major source of type 2 cytokines, initiate eosinophilic inflammatory responses in murine models of asthma. ⋯ Innate and adaptive immune cells are increased in the airways associated with allergic asthmatic responses. Total and type 2 cytokine-positive ILC2 are increased only within the airways, whereas CD4+ T lymphocytes demonstrated local and systemic increases. Steroid sensitivity of both cells may explain effectiveness of this therapy in those with mild asthma.