Identification of sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in sediments is an important step in reducing anthropogenic contamination. Identifications based solely on the composition of PAH can be confounded by compositional changes during weathering and biodegradation. Stable isotopic composition of individual PAH offers an additional marker, which can aid in distinguishing sources and...

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a devastating vascular complication of a number of CTDs. In patients with SSc, PAH has a dramatic impact on prognosis and survival and is the single most common cause of disease-related death.Yearly echocardiographic screening for PAH is recommended in patients with SSc. If suspected, confirmation of PAH diagnosis by right heart catheterization is necess...

BACKGROUND In pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), the six-minute walk test (6MWT) is believed to be representative of patient's daily life physical activities (DL(PA)). Whether DL(PA) are decreased in PAH and whether the 6MWT is representative of patient's DL(PA) remain unknown. METHODS 15 patients with idiopathic PAH (IPAH) and 10 patients with PAH associated with limited systemic scleros...

Wildland (forest) firefighters are exposed to a wide range of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in forest fire smoke. PAH undergo metabolic activation and can subsequently bind to DNA. In this study, we investigated the association between occupational and dietary PAH exposures and the formation of WBC PAH-DNA adducts in a population of wildland firefighters. An enzyme-linked ...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a common complication for individuals with limited systemic sclerosis (lSSc). The identification and characterization of biomarkers for lSSc-PAH should lead to less invasive screening, a better understanding of pathogenesis, and improved treatment. METHODS AND FINDINGS Forty-nine PBMC samples were obtained from 21 lSSc subjects without PAH (...

RATIONALE The impact of modern treatments of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) on pulmonary vascular pathology remains unknown. OBJECTIVES To assess the spectrum of pulmonary vascular remodeling in the modern era of PAH medication. METHODS Assessment of pulmonary vascular remodeling and inflammation in 62 PAH and 28 control explanted lungs systematically sampled. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN...

BACKGROUND The impact of male sex as a determinant of health outcomes in systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) is controversial. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sex on survival in patients with SSc-PAH. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the effect of sex on age of PAH diagnosis, time from SSc diagnosis to PAH diagnosis,...

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by excessive pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation and impaired apoptosis leading to obstruction of resistance pulmonary arteries. We hypothesized that antiproliferative (rapamycin) and proapoptotic (statins) agents, already used clinically for other indications, would decrease experimental PAH, facilitating translation to human...

BACKGROUND Childhood-onset pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is rare and differs from adult-onset disease in clinical presentation, with often unexplained mental retardation and dysmorphic features (MR/DF). Mutations in the major PAH gene, BMPR2, were reported to cause PAH in only 10-16% of childhood-onset patients. We aimed to identify more genes associated with childhood-onset PAH. METH...

BACKGROUND Although inflammation is an important feature of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), the usefulness of local inflammatory markers as biomarkers for PAH is unknown. In this study, we tested whether plasma concentrations of human pentraxin 3 (PTX3), a local inflammatory marker, would be a useful biomarker for detecting PAH. METHODS Plasma PTX3 concentrations were evaluated in 50 P...