Objective To observe the eotaxin expression of rat airway smooth muscle cells ( ASMCs) induced by serum from asthmatic rats, and explore the possible mechanism. Methods ASMCs isolated fromrat tracheas were cultured in vivo. Then they were treated with serum from asthmatic rats, or treated with serum and dexamethasone simultaneously. The level of eotaxin protein in supernatant and eotaxin mRNA in ASMCs were measured by ELISA and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The expression of cAMP in ASMCs was examined by radioimmunoassay. Results After the treatment with sensitized serum, the eotaxin level in supernatant and mRNA expression in ASMCs were significantly higher [ ( 107. 09 ±7. 12) ng/L vs. ( 0. 63 ±0. 56) ng/L, P lt; 0. 05; 1. 39 ±0. 04 vs. 0. 05 ±0. 01, P lt;0. 05] , and the level of cAMP in ASMCs was significantly lower compared with the control group [ ( 17. 58 ±3. 62) ng/L vs. ( 32. 39 ±3. 36) ng/L, P lt; 0. 05] . After intervened by the sensitized serum and dexamethasone simultaneously, the protein and mRNA expressions of eotaxin were lower compared with those intervened by sensitized serumalone [ ( 64. 18 ±4. 04) ng/L and 0. 77 ±0. 19] . The level of eotaxin in supernatant was negatively correlated with cAMP level in ASMCs ( r = - 0. 788, P lt; 0. 01) . Conclusions There is anautocrine function in ASMCs as inflammatory cells after stimulation with sensitized serum. Eotaxin may play an important roll in the pathogenesis of asthma via a cAMP-dependent pathway.
Objective To explore the effects of prolonged inhalation of Aspergillus fumigatus ( Af)spores on epithelial cell injury and expression of epidermal growth factor receptor( EGFR) in airways of asthmatic rats. Methods 64 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 8 groups, ie. chronic asthma group ( group A) , chronic asthma plus Af spores inhalation for 1 week ( group B) , 3 weeks ( group C) and 5 weeks ( group D) , chronic asthma plus saline inhalation for 5 weeks ( group E) , OVA-sensitized and salinechallenged group ( group F) , and OVA-sensitized and saline-challenged plus Af spores inhalation for 5 weeks ( group G) ( each n =8) . The airway resistance ( Raw) and change of Raw after acetylcholine provocation were detected using a computerized system. The concentrations of epidermal growth factor ( EGF) andtransforming growth factor alpha( TGF-α) in BALF were measured by ELISA. The extents of epithelial cell injury and goblet cell hyperplasia were evaluated on hematoxylin and eosin-stained( HE) and periodic acidschiff ( PAS) stained lung sections. The expression of EGFR in airway epithelia was demonstrated byimmunohistochemistry, and the level of EGFR protein in the rat lung tissues was measured by western blot.Results The concentration of EGF( pg/mL) ( 51. 72 ±8. 54, 68. 12 ±7. 85, 86. 24 ±9. 12, respectively)and TGF-α( pg/mL) ( 55. 26 ±9. 30, 75. 58 ±11. 56, 96. 75 ±14. 66, respectively) , detached/ inner perimeter of epithelium( % ) ( 11. 25 ±3. 12, 26. 45 ±5. 56, 28. 50 ±7. 50, respectively) , the ratio of goblet cell area to epithelial cell area ( % ) ( 16. 42 ±5. 24, 22. 64 ±6. 82, 36. 38 ±9. 21, respectively) , the integrated optical density ( IOD) of EGFR positive stain in airway epithelial cells ( 82 ±15,120 ±19, 165 ±21, respectively) , and the EGFR protein levels in lung tissues ( 0. 91 ±0. 26, 1. 61 ±0. 52, 2. 52 ±0. 78,respectively) in group B, C, and D were higher than those in group A, E, F and G( P lt; 0. 05 or P lt;0. 01) .The change rates of Raw( % ) ( 61. 91 ±5. 26, 84. 69 ±6. 38) in group C and D were higher than those in group A, E, F and G ( P lt; 0. 05 or P lt;0. 01) . The IOD of EGFR was positively correlated with detached/inner perimeter of epithelium( % ) and the ratio of goblet cell area to epithelial cell area( % ) ( r = 0. 692,P lt;0. 01; r = 0. 657, P lt; 0. 01, respectively) . Conclusion Prolonged inhalation of Aspergillus fumigatus spores can aggravate airway epithelial cell injury, up-regulate the expression of EGFR in airway epithelial cell and induce goblet cell hyperplasia, thus increase the airway responsiveness in rats with chronic asthma.
Objective To explore the possible anti-inflammatory mechanism of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor（PPAR） gamma-agonists by investigating the effects of Rosiglitazone on the expression of phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 6（p-STAT6） and the secretion of interleukin（IL）-4 in T-lymphocytes from patients with acute asthma.Methods Peripheral blood T-lymphocytes from 10 healthy volunteers（group A） and 10 patients with acute asthma were isolated，purificated and cultured.T-lymphocytes from the asthma patients were divided into a control group（group B） and a Rosiglitazone treated group（group C）.Rosiglitazone was added with a single dose of 10-4 mol/L at 0 hour of cultrue.After cultured for 48 hours，the concentration of IL-4 in supernatant of each groups were detected by ELISA.The express of p-STAT6 in the T-lymphocytes were determined by Western blot and immunohistochemical techniques.Results The levels of IL-4 were increased markedly in group B than those in group A and group C[（170.34±9.05）pg/mL vs（76.82±7.06）pg/mL and（123.59±8.70）pg/mL，both Plt;0.01]，and which in group C was significantly lower than group A（Plt;0.01）.The levels of p-STAT6 in T lymphocytes were increased markedly in group B than in group A and C[Western blot：（6.28±0.19 vs 3.07±0.18 and 4.12±0.16；immunohistochemistry：（36.58%±7.41）% vs（11.39±4.02）% and（23.92±5.8）%，all Plt;0.01），and which in group C were significantly higher than that in group B（both Plt;0.01）.There was a positive correlation between the level of p-STAT6 and IL-4（Plt;0.01）.Conclusion The levels of p-STAT6 and IL-4 in T-lymphocytes of patients with acute asthma were suppressed by Rosiglitazone in vitro.
Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of allergic and non-allergic asthma in Chinese adult asthmatic patients. Methods Consecutive treatment-naive adult outpatients with asthma were retrospectively analyzed in West China Hospital, Sichuan University from October 2014 to June 2016. The patients were classified into a non-allergic asthma (NAAS) group and an allergic asthma (AAS) group by skin prick test or antigen-specific IgE test. The differences between allergic and non-allergic asthma were compared in respect of gender, age, asthma control test (ACT) score, lung function, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) level, body mass index (BMI), disease severity,etc. Results A total of 131 patients were enrolled in which 72 cases (54.96%) were allergic asthmatics and 59 cases (45.04%) were non-allergic asthmatics. The level of FeNO was statistically different (t=–2.762,P=0.007) between the NAAS group and the AAS group [(51.1±32.6)ppbvs. (69.1±41.7)ppb]. Seventeen cases of the NAAS group and 48 cases of the AAS group were complicated with rhinitis with statistically significant difference (χ2 =19.396,P=0.000). Airway limitation reversibility test showed that there were 37 cases in AAS and 20 cases in NAAS with no airway obstruction (NAO), 26 cases in AAS and 22 cases in NAAS with reversible airflow obstruction (RAO), 9 cases in AAS and 17 cases in NAAS with irreversible airflow obstruction (IAO), respectively, with statistically significant difference between two groups (Z=–2.461,P=0.014). There were 20 cases (33.9%) in NAAS and 37 cases (51.4%) in AAS with mild intermittent or persistent asthma, 18 cases (30.5%) in NAAS and 19 cases (26.4%) in AAS with moderate persistent asthma, 21 cases (35.6%) in NAAS and 16 (22.2%) in AAS with severe persistent asthma, respectively, with statistically significant difference (Z=–2.115,P=–0.034). The age, ACT score, FEV1%pred, and BMI had no statistical difference between two groups (allP>0.05). Conclusion Compared with allergic asthma, non-allergic asthma has less rhinitis, lower FeNO levels and higher prevalence of irreversible airflow obstruction.
Objective To measure the serum level of adiponectin and explore its clinical implication in patients with asthma in acute exacerbation and remission phase. Methods 97 patients with asthma were recruited, including 50 patients with asthma in acute exacerbation and 47 patients in remission phase fromOctober 2010 to September 2011. 27 healthy nonsmoking volunteers of normal weight ( BMI range of 18.5-24. 9 kg/m2 ) were included as control. The concentrations of adiponectin and tumor necrosis factor alpha ( TNF-α) in serum were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) . The lung function was tested in all subjects. The correlations between adiponectin, TNF-αand lung function were investigated. The data was analyzed using SPSS 19. 0 software. Variables were compared with one-way ANOVA. The correlations between variables were analyzed using Peason’s correlation coefficient or Spearman correlation coefficient.Results Serum adiponectin level was significantly lower in the patients with asthma in acute exacerbation [ ( 246 ±1. 21) ng/mL] than that in the healthy subjects [ ( 9. 64 ±4. 88)ng/mL] and the patients in remission phase [ ( 3. 79 ±0. 96) ng/mL] ( P lt; 0. 01) , while serum adiponectin level was also significantly lower in the patients in asthma remission phase than that in the healthy subjects ( P lt; 0. 01) . The serum adiponectin level in the patients with asthma in acute exacerbation or in asthma remission phase was negatively correlated with the serum TNF-α level ( P lt; 0. 01) , and was positively correlated with FEV1 /predicted value ( P lt; 0. 01) . Conclusions The serum adiponectin is reduced in asthma patients and may play a protective role in asthma.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the indoor influencing factors of asthma in Chinese children. MethodsThe CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and ScienceDirect databases were electronically searched to collect cross-sectional studies on the indoor influencing factors of asthma in Chinese children from inception to November 2021. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies; then, meta-analysis was performed using Stata 16.0 software. ResultsA total of 29 cross-sectional studies were included, and 11 influencing factors were analyzed by meta-analysis. The results of the meta-analysis showed that redecoration (OR=1.57, 95%CI 1.37 to 1.79, P<0.01), environmental tobacco smoke (OR=1.59, 95%CI 1.34 to 1.88, P<0.01), cooking oil fume (OR=1.98, 95%CI 1.20 to 3.25, P<0.01), mold and water damage (OR=1.49, 95%CI 1.09 to 2.02, P<0.01), mold (OR=2.01, 95%CI 1.40 to 2.90, P<0.01), water damage (OR=1.72, 95%CI 1.44 to 2.06, P<0.01), moldy odor (OR=1.38, 95%CI 1.22 to 1.56, P<0.01), indoor humidity (OR=1.50, 95%CI 1.18 to 1.91, P<0.01), furry pets (OR=1.55, 95%CI 1.39 to 1.72, P<0.01) and cockroach (OR=1.63, 95%CI 1.24 to 2.14, P<0.01) were risk factors for asthma in Chinese children, while burning incense had no association with the occurrence of asthma in children. ConclusionCurrent evidence indicates that redecoration, environmental tobacco smoke, cooking oil fume, mold and water damage, mold, water damage, moldy odor, indoor humidity, furry pets, and cockroaches are influencing factors of asthma in Chinese children. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
ObjectiveTo understand the trend and problems of asthma treatment in different levels of hospitals in Chongqing, and to provide objective basis for more refined and standardized asthma management. MethodsThe outpatient and inpatient asthma diagnosis and treatment data of four hospitals of different grades in Chongqing from 2017 to 2021 were extracted by medical big data capture platform, and the trend of outpatient and prescription changes was analyzed retrospectively according to natural year. ResultsThere were 19514 outpatients asthma visits in the four hospitals, of whom 11816 (60.6%) were female. There were 1875 hospitalizations, of which 1117 (59.6%) were female. ① Changes of asthma visit mode: From 2017 to 2019, the number of outpatient asthma visits and the proportion of asthma in the total outpatient volume increased, decreased significantly in 2021, and basically recovered to the level of 2019 in 2022. Asthma hospitalizations in tertiary hospitals showed a decreasing trend, while those in secondary hospitals increased significantly. The proportion of asthma patients who chose outpatient treatment in the four hospitals increased year by year, among which the increase was more significant in non-tertiary teaching hospitals, and the proportion of asthma acute attack in outpatient and inpatient treatment increased. ② Changes of medication pattern: The rate of inhaled corticosteroids/long-acting β2-agonists (ICS/LABA) prescription in outpatient department increased year by year, the highest was 48.6%, but the rate of short-acting β2-agonists (SABA) prescription also increased year by year, especially in secondary hospitals, the rate of SABA prescription in secondary hospitals reached 39.7%. The proportion of hospitalized asthma patients treated with inhaled corticosteroids (85.1%) was higher than that of intravenous corticosteroids (50.9%), and the proportion of intravenous theophylline prescription was as high as 91.7%, while the proportion of nebulized SABA prescription was 71.4%. ConclusionsThe trend of asthma diagnosis and treatment is that the number of outpatients and the use of ICS/LABA is gradually increasing, while the number of inpatients is decreasing. However, there is still a large gap in the proportion of asthma maintenance medication used in different levels of hospitals, so it is necessary to continuously promote standardized diagnosis and treatment management of asthma in hospitals at all levels, especially primary hospitals.
Objective To investigate levels of 8-isoprostane in serum of patients with bronchial asthma. Methods Eighteen patients diagnosed with acute exacerbation of asthma were enrolled as the experimental group from Department of Respiratory Medicine from February 2009 to August 2009. After treatment all the patients reached remission. Twenty healthy workers from Department of Respiratory Medicine were enrolled as the control group in August 2009. The levels of 8-isoprostane in serum of all subjects were measured, and their FEV1% pred was also evaluated. Results The levels of 8-isoprostane in serum were significantly higher in patients with acute exacerbation of asthma compared with those in remission stage and the healthy control group [ ( 157. 46 ±46. 99) pg/mL vs. ( 43. 52 ±13. 62) pg/mL and( 15. 23 ±1. 96) pg/mL, P lt;0. 01] . Meanwhile the levels of 8-isoprostane in serum of patients with asthma in remission stage were significantly higher compared with the healthy control group ( P lt;0. 05) . The levels of 8-isoprostane in serum were negatively correlated with FEV1% pred in the asthma group( r = - 0. 533,P lt;0. 05) . Conclusions 8-isoprostane as amarker of oxidative stress response involves in the pathogenesis of asthma. Monitoring 8-isoprostane levels in serum may reflect the state of oxidative stress, and may be useful for severity judgment and follow-up of treatment effectiveness in patients with asthma.
ObjectiveTo analyze the causes of death of patients with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease overlap syndrome (ACOS). MethodsA total of 493 patients admitted between January 2006 and Octomber 2015 were respectively analyzed, including 348 asthma patients and 145 ACOS patients. The patients was divided into a survival group and a death group based on the outcome. The ACOS patients were divided into three subgroups based on FEV1% pred level (≥80%, 50%-80%, and < 50%, respectively). The basic characteristics and causes of death were analyzed using χ2-test, t-test and Fish-test based on data type. ResultsThe age (t=3.457, P < 0.001), male proportion (χ2=15.394, P < 0.001) and smoking history (χ2=12.418, P=0.002) had significant differences between the survival group and the death group. The proportion of ACOS patients was higher in the death group (42% vs. 27%, χ2=7.033, P=0.008), and the mortality was also higher in the ACOS patients (21% vs. 12%). The proportion of male patients was higher in the ACOS patients than that in the asthma patients (86% vs. 38%, P < 0.001). The leading three causes of death in the ACOS patients were malignant diseases (45%), pneumonia (26%), and cardiovascular diseases (16%). Malignant diseases were the main cause of death in the ACOS patients with FEV1% pred≥50%, while pneumonia was the main cause of death in those with FEV1% pred≥50%. There was no significant difference in cause of death distribution between three subgroups with different FEV1% pred (P=0.318). ConclusionThe main cause of death of ACOS patients is malignant diseases, the followed are pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases.
Objective Respiratory syncytial virus ( RSV) is a primary cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children, and is also the cause for the development of asthma primarily in infants. However,the immunological mechanisms by which RSV enhances allergic sensitization and asthma remain unclear. The aimof this study was to examine the influence of RSV-infected airway epithelial cells on the activation and functions of rat myeloid dendritic cells ( mDCs) . Methods Rat airway epithelial cells ( RAECs) were infected by RSV. Then RSV-infected RAECs were co-cultured with rat mDCs, and the expression of cytokine and maturation markers on mDCs were examined by real time PCR and flow cytometry. To confirm this functional mDC maturation, allergenic mixed lymphocyte reaction ( MLR) were performed. Results Wefound that functional maturation of mDCs was induced by RSV-treated RAECs, as shown by their enhanced levels of OX40L and thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine ( TARC) mRNAs, which increased the expressions of major histocompatibility complex II ( MHCII) and CD86 costimulatorymolecules and promotedT-cell proliferation in mixed lymphocyte reactions. Conclusion Our results suggest that RSV-infected epithelial cells promote the maturation of mDCs that might support Th2 cell polarization and contribute to the pathogenesis of asthma.