This paper indicated that inactivated Bordetella pertussis (iBp) can enhance the lung airway hyperreactivity of the rats sensitized and challenged with OVA. The mechanisms were involved in the upregulation of cAMP-PDE activity and PDE4A, PDE4D, and PDE3 gene expression in the lungs. But only PDE4 activity was different between the OVA and OVA+iBp groups, and PDE4D expression was significantly i...

Apert syndrome is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by craniosynostosis, midface hypoplasia and syndactyly. In general, patients present in early childhood for craniofacial reconstruction surgery. Anesthetic implications include difficult airway, airway hyper-reactivity; however, possibility of raised intracranial pressure especially when operating for craniosynostosis and associated ...

Background The concept of Atopic march was developed to study the progress of Atopic Dermatitis to Allergic Rhinitis to Asthma. Epidemiologic studies have constantly demonstrated strong associations between Rhinitis and Asthma. Bronchial hyper-reactivity is an important component in the definition of Asthma. Many patients with Allergic Rhinitis have lower Airway hyperreactivity or bronchial hyp...

BACKGROUND The airway muscles from allergen-sensitized animals in vitro show a heightened response to histamine, but not to carbachol. This study investigated whether the airway responsiveness to histamine in vivo is comparable to that of methacholine in human subjects with varying degrees of atopy. METHODS One-hundred-and-sixty-eight consecutive adult asthma patients or volunteers underwent ...

PURPOSE Live/killed mycobacteria and culture supernatants can suppress asthmatic reactions. This study investigated whether mycobacterial secretory proteins have therapeutic effects on asthma. METHODS Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG; 2×10(5) CFUs) and mycobacterial secretory proteins (Ag85 complex, 38-kDa protein or MPB70; 4 or 20 µg) were administered intraperitoneally to fe...

BACKGROUND Inhaled tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) has previously been shown to induce airway neutrophilia and increased airway reactivity in normal subjects. It was hypothesised that a similar challenge would increase airway reactivity in those with mild asthma, but that the inflammatory profile may differ. METHODS Ten mild asthmatic subjects were recruited on the basis of clinical ...

To explore whether asthma and obesity share overlapping pathogenic features, we examined the impact of each alone, and in combination, on multiple aspects of lung function. We reasoned that if they influenced the lungs through similar mechanisms, the individual physiological manifestations in the comorbid state should interact in a complex fashion. If not, then the abnormalities should simply a...

Eosinophils were recently proposed to act as prime inflammation-producing cells in asthma. Tissue eosinophil infiltration is an important feature of another disease, tropical pulmonary eosinophilia. Airway reactivity was determined in two patients with the latter disease and both were found to be hyperreactive.

Ozone exposure causes airway hyperreactivity and increases hospitalizations resulting from pulmonary complications. Ozone reacts with the epithelial lining fluid and airway epithelium to produce reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation products, which then activate cell signaling pathways, including the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. Both p38 and c-Jun NH2 terminal kinas...

Aim. To study the relationship between atopy-related traits in a random sample of children. Methods. A total of 1007 randomly selected children, 7-17 years of age, from Copenhagen, Denmark were studied. The children were interviewed about symptoms of atopic diseases, and skin test reactivity, serum total IgE, lung function, and airway responsiveness were measured. Principal components analysis ...