Objective To investigate the changes of small airway function and diffusing capacity in patients with mild asthma before and after bronchial provocation test (BPT).Methods BPT was performed in suspected asthma patients with chief complaints of paroxysmal wheeze,chest tightness and cough，but with normal chest X-ray and baseline pulmonary function.BPT positive group was regarded as asthma group，while BPT negative group as control group.Lung volume，ventilatory function and diffusing capacity were measured before and after BPT and compared between the asthma and control groups.Results （A）No statistical differences were found in FEV1%，FEV1/FVC，FVC%，VC%，TLC%，FRC%，RV%，RV/TLC between the asthma and control groups before BPT.FEV1/FVC and FVC% were significantly decreased (all Plt;0.01)，while FRC% (Plt;0.05)，RV% (Plt;0.01) and RV/TLC (Plt;0.01) increased significantly in the asthma group after BPT compared with the control group.The decline rate of FEV1/FVC and FVC% and the increase rate of TLC%，RV%，RV/TLC were significantly higher in the asthma group than those in the control group (all Plt;0.01).（B）Compared with the control group，FEF25%-75% (Plt;0.05)，Vmax75% (Plt;0.01) and Vmax50% (Plt;0.05) were significantly lowered before BPT，while the above parameters and Vmax25% were significantly decreased after BPT in the asthma group (all Plt;0.01).The decline rate of FEF25%-75%，Vmax75%，Vmax50% and Vmax25% was significantly higher in the asthma group than those in the control group (all Plt;0.01).（C）There was no statistical difference in DLCO in both groups before and after BPT.Conclusions Patients with mild asthma had small airways impairment before BCT which further declined after BPT.However,no impairment of diffusion capacity was found before or after BPT.
Objective To investigate the relationship of small airway function with airway sensitivity and reactivity and assess the factors influencingairway hyperresponsiveness (AHR).Methods Data of consecutive subjects with suspected asthma who had a≥20% reduction in FEV1 after ≤12.8 mmol/L cumulative doses of methacholine were analyzed from January 2005 to April 2006.Airway sensitivity was assessed by the cumulative dose of methacholine required to cause 20% reduction in FEV1 (PD20).Airway reactivity was analyzed using the slope of the dose-response curve (DRS).The DRS was defined as the reduction in FEV1 from baseline after the final dose of methacholine inhaled divided by the cumulative dose inhaled.Because of their highly skewed distribution，DRS was logarithmically transformed (log10) for all analysis.Results A total of 184 consecutive subjects aged 16 to 80 years was enrolled.There were 70 male (38.0%) and 114 female (62.0%) subjects.Subjects with higher airway sensitivity，indicated by lower PD20，also had a lower Vmax50% and Vmax25%，and vise versa.PD20 was negatively correlated wit log10DRS (r=-0.874，Plt;0.01).In a simple linear regression model，log10DNS was significantly correlated with FEV1%，Vmax50% or Vmax25% respectively (the determinant r2 were 0.062，0.097 and 0.085，respectively，all Plt;0.01).In a multiple linear regression model that included age，height，and percentage of predicted FEV1，Vmax50% and Vmax25% accounted for 3.9% and 2.6%，respectively，of variability in airway reactivity.The association between Vmax50% and log10DNS was significant in both male and female subjects.The r2 was higher in male subjects.The subjects were divided into three age groups and the association between Vmax50% or Vmax25% and log10DNS was higher in female than in male for age≤25 years，higher in male than in female for 25 -45 years.No association was found for agegt;45 years in both males and females.Conclusions Impaired small airway function is associated with higher airway sensitivity and reactivity to methacholine in subjects with suspected asthma.
Objective To explore the distribution of bacteria among community acquired lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) inpatients with underlying chronic respiratory tract diseases.Methods The clinical data，sputum culture and drug susceptibility results of 212 community acquired LRTI patients who were hospitalized during the period 2001-2005 were retrospectively analyzed.All patients had various underlying chronic respiratory tract diseases.Results A total of 229 strains of pathogens were detected，with the majority being gram negative bacteria.In pathogens of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease，gram negative bacteria occupied 73.9%.And Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the most common pathogens，with each occupying 18.2% and 13.6% respectively.Gram positive bacteria occupied 23.8%，mainly Staphylococcus aureus (10.2%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (9.1%).In patients with bronchiectasis exacerbated by bacterial infection，86.2% were caused by gram negative bacteria，the top three being，in descending order，Pseudomonas aeruginosa (27.5%)，Haemophilus parainfluenzae (13.7%)，and Haemophilus influenzae (11.8%).Bronchiectasis was the major risk factor of getting Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection (OR=5.590，95%CI 2.792~11.192).The risk factors of getting Acinetobacter baumanii infection were antacid usage within 1 month (OR=9.652，95%CI 2.792~11.192) and hypoalbuminemia (OR=2.679，95%CI 1.108~6.476).For enterobacters infections，including Klebsiella pneumoniae，Enterobacter cloacae and Escherichia coli，the risk factors were antibiotic usage within 1 month (OR=4.236，95%CI 1.982~9.057)，having renal diseases (OR=4.305，95%CI 1.090~17.008) and diabetes mellitus (OR=2.836，95%CI 1.339~6.009).Conclusions Gram negative bacteria were the main pathogens of community acquired LRTI in hospitalized patients with underlying chronic respiratory tract diseases.The pathogens were influenced by underlying diseases，severity of diseases and drug usage history of patients.
Objective To investigate the role of urotensin Ⅱ(UⅡ) in the pathogenesis of asthma.Methods Lung function，differential cell count and level of UⅡin induced sputum were studied in 26 asthmatic patients in acute exacerbation and in clinical remission.Results Induced sputum UⅡ level from acute asthma was higher than that of remissed asthma [(58.88±47.38)pg/mL vs (12.69±12.78)pg/mL，Plt;0.01].Induced sputum UⅡ levels of asthma patients in acute exacerbation had a tendency to increase as disease deteriorated，which negatively correlated with FEV1% predicted (r=-0.326，Plt;0.05)，but did not with sputum total cell and neutrophil counts(Pgt;0.05).No significant difference of induced sputum UⅡ levels was found between male and female，smokers and non-smokers.Conclusion UⅡ may play a role in acute exacerbation of asthma
Objective To investigate the role of endogenous Hydrogen Sulfide ( H2S) in airway inflammation and responsiveness in a rat model of chronic passive-smoking. Methods Male SD rats were randomly divided into a control group ( breathing fresh air) and a passive smoking group [ cigarette smoking( CS) passively] , with 18 rats in each group. Six rats in each group were randomly intraperitoneally injected with normal saline, sodium hydrosulfide ( NaHS) or propargylglycine ( PPG, an irreversible inhibitor of cystathionine- γ-lyase) . The animals were divided into six subgroups, ie. Con group, NaHS group, and PPG group, CS group, CS+ NaHS group, and CS + PPG group. After 4 months, lung histological change and airway tension were measured. The H2S levels of plasma and lung tissue were analyzed by the sensitive sulphur electrode assay. The expression of cystathionine-γ-lyase ( CSE) was measured by western blot. Results Compared with the Con group, CSE protein expression in lung tissues was increased in CS group( P lt;0. 05) ; the H2 S levels of plasma were significantly higher in CS group, NaHS group and CS + NaHS group, and much lower in PPG group ( P lt; 0. 05, respectively) . Compared with CS group, the H2S levels of plasma were significantly higher in CS + NaHS group, and much lower in CS + PPG group( P lt; 0. 05, respectively) . The H2S level of lung tissue in each group had no significant difference ( P gt; 0. 05) . Compared with Con group,score of lung pathology was significant elevated, and the responsiveness of airway smooth muscles to ACh and KCl was significant augmented in CS group. Compared with CS group, the score of lung pathology was decreased, and the responsiveness of airway smooth muscles was decreased in CS +NaHS group( P lt;0. 05) , and vise versa in CS + PPG group( P lt; 0. 01) . Conclusion H2S can alleviate airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness induced by CS, and administration of H2S might be of clinical benefit in airwayinflammation and airway responsiveness.
ObjectiveTo explore the clinical significance of quantitative CT measurement of pulmonary vascular indexes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). MethodsFifty-three stable COPD patients who were diagnosed in our hospital between May 2013 and February 2015 were recruited in the study. The HRCT results were analyzed, and the pulmonary vascular indexes were measured including the main pulmonary artery diameter (mPAD), axial diagonal mPAD, sagittal mPAD, right pulmonary artery diameter (RPAD), left pulmonary artery diameter (LPAD) and etc. The % CSA<5 (the percent of total cross-sectional area of the vascular with cross-sectional area less than 5 mm2 to total area of the lung) was calculated with Image J 1.48. The % LAA[volume percentage of low attenuation areas (<-950 HU)] representing degree of emphysema was calculated with GE ADW 4.5. Lung function test and questionnaires including CAT, mMRC, SGRQ and frequency of acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) were completed and collected. ResultsIn COPD patients, the mPAD,axial diagonal mPAD, sagittal mPAD, RPAD and LPAD were positively correlated with % LAA respectively (r=0.36, 0.33, 0.43, 0.45, 0.33) and % CSA<5 was negatively correlated with % LAA (r=-0.37). mPAD was positively correlated with CAT, SGRQ and frequency of AECOPD respectively (r=0.52, 0.29, 0.35), and negatively correlated with FEV1% pred (r=-0.30).% CSA<5 was negatively correlated with CAT, SGRQ and frequency of AECOPD, respectively (r=-0.29,-0.30,-0.29), and positively correlated with FEV1% pred (r=0.28). The multivariate linear regression analysis revealed a linear relationship of mPAD with body mass index,% LAA and CAT. There was also linear relationships between axial diagonal mPAD, sagittal mPAD, RPAD and % LAA, CAT, respectively, and linear relationships between % CSA<5 and FEV1% pred,% LAA. The P value were all less than 0.05. ConclusionQuantitative CT measurement of cross-sectional area of small pulmonary vessels and pulmonary artery diameter are associated with clinical indexes in COPD patients, which will provide a new appraoche for the disease assessment of COPD patients.
ObjectivesTo evaluate the improvement of symptoms in patients with moderate to severe asthma aged 5-18 years treated with GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma) guidelines by network meta-analysis. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about asthma patients aged 5 to 18 years with reported asthma symptom scores were collected from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, SinoMed and clinical trial registry platform (ClinicalTrials.gov). The search time limit was from the inception to August 26, 2023. After two researchers independently screened literature, extracted data and evaluated the risk of bias of included studies, Stata 15.0 software was used for network meta-analysis. ResultsA total of 23 studies were included, 23 of which reported daytime asthma symptom scores. Compared with symptom scores in the low-dose ICS group, there was a statistically significant difference in improvement of daytime symptoms between low-dose ICS+LABA+LTRA (SMD=−1.4, 95%CI −1.99 to −0.81) and low-dose ICS+LABA+SABA (SMD=−1.43, 95%CI −2.48 to −0.39). Symptom scores for nighttime asthma were reported in 20 RCTs, and there was a statistically significant difference in symptom scores for low-dose ICS+LABA+LTRA (SMD=−1.20, 95%CI −2.20 to −0.21) compared with the low-dose ICS group. After the ranking of efficacy, the number one asthma symptom score in both daytime and nighttime was low-dose ICS+LABA+LTRA group. ConclusionLow dose ICS+LABA+LTRA has the best efficacy in improving daytime and nighttime asthma symptom scores.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of treatments for β-coronaviruses.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, SinoMed, CNKI and WanFang Data databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled trials (non-RCTs) of treatments for β-coronaviruses from inception to June 17th, 2020. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using Stata 14.0 software.ResultsA total of 109 studies invoving 23 210 patients were included. The results of the systematic review showed that compared with standard of care, corticosteroids could reduce mortality and increase cure rate for COVID-19. However, chloroquine could decrease cure rate. In severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients, corticosteroids could decrease the cure rate. In Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) patients, ribavirin/interferon/both drugs showed higher mortality.ConclusionsThe currently limited evidence shows that corticosteroids may be effective to COVID-19 patients while having limited effects on SARS patients. Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine may have negative effects on COVID-19 patients. Ribavirin/interferon may be harmful to MERS patients. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusions.