Objective To explore the effect of smoking on pulmonary function parameters of male patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to analyze the correlation between smoking and pulmonary function parameters. Methods From January 2014 to October 2015, the pulmonary function parameters of 223 male outpatients or hospitalized patients with COPD in the Department of Respiratory Medicine were retrospectively analyzed by using SPSS 17.0 software. The patients were randomly divided into smoking group (n=98), smoking cessation group (n=82) and non-smoking group (n=43). Results Various degrees of damage or abnormality of lung capacity, ventilatory function, gas exchange function and airway resistance (Raw) existed in the patients with COPD. Compared with smoking cessation group and non-smoking group, residual volume/ total lung capacity (RV/TLC) and Raw were significantly higher (P< 0.05), maximum ventilatory volume, ventilation reserve percent, forced vital capacity, the percent of first second forced expiratory volume compared its predicted value (FEV1%pred), maximum mid-expiratory flow (MMEF), forced expiratory flow 50%, forced expiratory flow 75% and diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide were significantly lower (P<0.05) in the smoking group. There was a negative relationship between MMEF, FEV1%pred and smoking index (r=–0.352, –0.381, P<0.05), and a positive relationship between Raw, RV/TLC and smoking index (r=0.403, 0.378, P<0.05). Conclusions Most of the male COPD patients smoke or used to smoke. Smoking leads to ventilation and gas exchange function decrease, small airway limitation aggravation, airway resistance and emphysema degree increase in COPD patients. Smoking index has a negative relationship with MMEF, FEV1%pred and a positive relationship with Raw and RV/TLC.
Objective To explore the effect of leukotriene receptor antagonist montelukast on physicochemical property of sputum and airway mucus hypersecretion in patients with acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis. Methods Eighty-four inpatients with acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis were randomly divided into a control group and an experiment group, with 42 cases in each group. The control group received conventional therapy and the experiment group took orally montelukast 10 mg before sleep every day based on conventional therapy for two weeks. At admission and 15 days after admission, the amount in 24 hours, dry/wet weight ratio and viscosity of sputum were observed while the levels of neutrophil elastase (NE) and mucin MUC5ac in sputum were determined by ELISA. The pulmonary ventilation function, airway resistance and blood gas analysis were also measured. Results The sputum amount in 24 hours, dry/wet weight ratio and viscosity of sputum, NE and MUC5ac of sputum, pulmonary ventilation function, blood gas analysis and airway resistance were declined or improved remarkably after treatment compared with before treatment in two groups (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the sputum amount in 24 hours [(5.62±1.83) g vs. (7.53±2.32) g], NE [(3.85±0.97) μg/ml vs. (4.54±1.03) μg/ml], MUC5ac [(0.65±0.21) μg/ml vs. (0.82± 0.29) μg/ml] and the airway resistance [(119.16±11.76)% vs. (128.37±12.08)%] were declined remarkably in the experiment group compare with the control group after treatment (all P<0.05). The viscosity of sputum between the two groups after treatment showed no significant difference. Conclusion In patients with acute exacerbation of bronchiectasis, montelukast can reduce amount of sputum and airway resistance, reduce expression of mucin MUC5ac through down-regulation of NE, thus inhibit airway mucus hypersecretion.
ObjectiveTo explore the changes of plasma prealbumin (PA), homocysteine (Hcy) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels before and after treatment in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD), and analyze the correlation of PA and Hcy with hs-CRP and body mass index (BMI).MethodsA total of 132 hospitalized AECOPD patients with GOLD lung function as grade III-IV were recruited as an experimental group and 45 healthy subjects as a control group. The levels of plasma PA, Hcy and hs-CRP were measured by automatic biochemical analyzer, and the main indexes of pulmonary function were determined in all subjects.ResultsCompared with the control group, the level of plasma PA before and after treatment in the experimental group decreased significantly [(146.49±36.53) mg/L and (219.60±41.29) mg/L vs. (269.48±42.63) mg/L], the level of plasma Hcy before and after treatment increased significantly [(16.44±5.21) μmol/L and (12.61±4.56) μmol /L vs. (10.13±3.25) μmol/L], and the levels of plasma hs-CRP before and after treatment increased significantly [(45.24±29.94) mg/L and (7.71±3.41) mg/L vs. (5.01±1.52) mg/L] (all P<0.05). The levels of plasma PA, Hcy and hs-CRP after treatment were significantly better than before treatment in the experimental group (allP<0.01). The plasma PA values before and after treatment were negatively correlated with the level of hs-CRP before and after treatment, and positively correlated with BMI (bothP<0.05).ConclusionsThe levels of plasma PA, Hcy and hs-CRP are significantly different before and after the treatment in AECOPD patients and the healthy controls. PA is negatively correlated with hs-CRP and positively correlated with BMI. The detection of plasma PA and Hcy can help to determine the condition and efficacy of patients with COPD, and PA can reflect the level of inflammation and nutritional status to a certain extent.
Objective To explore the correlations of plasma D-dimer and fibrinogen levels with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA21-1) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods The clinical data of 196 patients with NSCLC diagnosed for the first time in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the 416 Hospital of Nuclear Indusry between July 2017 and December 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 57 cases in early stage (stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ), 57 cases in medium stage (stage Ⅲ), and 82 cases in advanced stage (stage Ⅳ) according to TNM staging, 108 cases of adenocarcinoma, 87 cases of squamous cell carcinoma, and 1 case of unclassified type according to pathological classification, and 19 deaths and 177 survivals according to outcome. The levels of D-dimer and fibrinogen were determined by immunoturbidimetry and coagulation method, and the levels of CEA and CFYRA21-1 were determined by electro-chemiluminescence method. The non-normally distributed data were presented as median (lower quartile, upper quartile), and Spearman correlation analyses were performed. Results Among the early, middle and advanced stage patients, the levels of D-dimer [198.00 (133.00, 390.87), 279.00 (170.93, 520.89), 389.00 (196.25, 931.00) μg/L], CEA [3.20 (2.60, 5.17), 13.53 (5.07, 70.63), 15.69 (4.07, 123.46) μg/L], and CFYRA21-1 [4.79 (3.15, 8.84), 8.60 (4.83, 19.32), 7.19 (3.09, 15.05) μg/L] were significantly different (P<0.05); however, there was no statistical difference in the level of fibrinogen among the three stages (P>0.05). The level of CYFRA21-1 in the adenocarcinoma group was lower than that in the squamous cell carcinoma group [(5.39 (2.81, 12.71) vs. 6.86 (4.18, 12.29) μg/L, P<0.05], while there was no statistically significant difference in D-dimer, CEA, or fibrinogen between the two groups (P>0.05). The levels of D-dimer, CEA, and CFYRA21-1 in the death group [1176.00 (382.00, 2848.00), 135.34 (24.85, 403.50), 10.82 (7.41, 23.41) μg/L] were significantly higher than those in the survival group [270.00 (146.00, 481.50), 5.62 (3.05, 26.53), 6.28 (3.37, 12.30) μg/L], and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01); but there was no statistical difference in the level of fibrinogen between the two groups (P>0.05). D-dimer was positively correlated with CEA and CFYRA21-1 (rs=0.450, 0.291; P<0.001), but fibrinogen was not correlated with CEA or CFYRA21-1 (P>0.05). Conclusion D-dimer was more valuable than fibrinogen in predicting the clinical stage and prognosis of NSCLC.
Objective To analyze the distribution of pathogens, drug susceptibility and multi-drug resistant bacteria (MDRB) in elderly patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) complicated with pneumonia. Methods The clinical data of patients whose discharge diagnosis included AECOPD with pneumonia or pulmonary infection from January 2012 to December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Strain identification and drug sensitivity analysis were performed in the pathogenic bacterias isolated from sputum culture. Results A total of 1 978 patients were enrolled in this study, and pathogenic bacterias were isolated from the sputum of 708 patients, including 485 cases of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and 223 cases of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP); and 786 strains of pathogens were isolated (501 strains from CAP cases, 285 strains from HAP cases), including 448 strains of Gram-negative (G–) bacilli (57.0%), 117 strains of Gram-positive (G+) cocci (14.9%), and 221 strains of fungi (28.1%). Susceptibility testing results showed that G– bacilli were highly resistant to penicillins, third generation cephalosporins, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, etc., and G+ cocci were highly resistant to penicillin, clindamycin and erythromycin. There were 238 strains of MDRB, mainly including 69 strains of Acinetobacter baumanii [multiple drug resistance rate (MDRR)=67.6%], 27 strains of Escherichia coli (MDRR=52.9%), 25 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae (MDRR=34.2%), 33 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDRR=33.0%) and 24 strains of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (MDRR=100.0%). MDRR of Enterococcus genus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was 50.0% and 48.0%, respectively. Conclusions The pathogenic bacterias in elderly AECOPD patients complicated with pneumonia are mainly G– bacterias, and the proportion of fungal infection tends to increase. Bacterial drug resistance is serious and the MDRB tends to increase, especially in patients with HAP. Physicians should early find out the characteristics of local pathogenic bacteria and drug sensitivity, rationally select antibiotics, reduce the occurrence of drug-resistant strains and superinfection when treating the elderly patients with AECOPD complicated with pneumonia.