BACKGROUND Stachybotrys microspora triprenyl phenols (SMTPs) are a novel family of small molecules that enhance both activation and fibrin-binding of plasminogen. While their effects on fibrinolysis have been characterized in vitro, little is known about their activity in vivo with respect to plasminogen activation and blood clot clearance. RESULTS To select a potent SMTP congener for the eva...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the impact of a new flutter-type mucus-clearance device on pulmonary function test results in people ≥ 85 years old. METHODS We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 60 people ≥ 85 years old. The subjects were distributed randomly into an intervention group and a control group. Spirometry was performed at baseline and after 28 days of using the flutter mucus-cl...

DTPA clearance rate is a reliable index of alveolar epithelial permeability, and is a highly sensitive marker of pulmonary epithelial damage, even of mild degree. In this study, 99mTc-DTPA aerosol inhalation scintigraphy was used to assesss the pulmonary epithelial membrane permeability and to investigate the possible application of this permeability value as an indicator of early alveolar or i...

Removal of cells dying by apoptosis is essential to normal development, maintenance of tissue homeostasis, and resolution of inflammation. Surfactant protein A (SP-A) and surfactant protein D (SP-D) are high abundance pulmonary collectins recently implicated in apoptotic cell clearance in vitro. Other collectins, such as mannose-binding lectin and the collectin-like C1q, have been shown to bind...

Influenza virus infection is a leading cause of death and disability throughout the world. Influenza-infected hosts are vulnerable to secondary bacterial infection, however, and an ensuing bacterial pneumonia is actually the predominant cause of influenza-attributed deaths during pandemics. A number of mechanisms have been proposed by which influenza may predispose to superinfection with an unr...

Sznajder, J. I., P. Factor, and D. H. Ingbar. Invited Review: Lung edema clearance: role of Na -K -ATPase. J Appl Physiol 93: 1860–1866, 2002. 10.1152/japplphysiol.00022.2002.—Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure is a consequence of edema accumulation due to elevation of pulmonary capillary pressures and/or increases in permeability of the alveolocapillary barrier. It has been recognized that lu...

In the current study, behavior of crank-slider mechanism with single and multiple clearance joints are analyzed. Using Lankarani-Nikravesh theory for estimating discontinuous contact forces in clearance joints, relevant systems have been mathematically modeled. Through numerical simulations, perturbations in response of mechanisms with clearance joints have been analyzed. Effects of increasing ...

The importance of endogenous interleukin 1 (II.-1) in resistance to Pneumocystis carinii infection was examined in a SCID mouse model. Naturally acquired pulmonary infection of P. carinii in SCID mice was completely cleared by reconstitution of the infected mice with immunocompetent spleen cells. I1:1 activity in the lung homogenate supernatant of these mice increased significantly after recons...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that can cause fatal acute lung infections in critically ill individuals. Lung damage due to chronic infections in cystic fibrosis sufferers is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in this group. The bacterium produces various immunomodulatory products that enable it to survive in the lung. Innate and increasing resistance to a...

Fiber dimension and durability are recognized as important features in influencing the development of pulmonary carcinogenic and fibrogenic effects. Using a short-term inhalation bioassay, we have studied pulmonary deposition and clearance patterns and evaluated and compared the pulmonary toxicity of two previously tested reference materials, an inhaled organic fiber, Kevlar para-aramid fibrils...