BACKGROUND Thymic stromal lymphoproetin (TSLP) is a cytokine secreted by the airway epithelium in response to respiratory viruses and it is known to promote allergic Th2 responses in asthma. This study investigated whether virally-induced secretion of TSLP is directional in nature (apical vs. basolateral) and/or if there are TSLP-mediated effects occurring at both sides of the bronchial epithel...

The obesity-asthma phenotype is characterized by increased asthma severity and decreased glucocorticoid responsiveness. To date, the mechanism underlying the association between obesity and asthma remain to be fully elucidated. The present study investigated the correlation between oxidative stress and the nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway in obese asthmatic mice. The animals were divided into the...

OBJECTIVES To determine the oxidant - antioxidant imbalance in asthmatic children, by measuring the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) as an oxidant marker of lipid peroxidation as well as antioxidant compounds like vitamin C, vitamin E and uric acid and to investigate whether their concentrations are associated with more severe asthma. METHODS This case controlled prospective study was conducte...

Here we investigated the relationship between local bacterial colonization and anti-bacterial immune responses in pre-school asthmatic and control children within the EU-wide study PreDicta. In this cohort of pre-school asthmatic children, nasopharyngeal colonization with Gram-negative bacteria such as Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis was found to be associated with the highest ...

BACKGROUND There is a paucity of studies comparing asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) based on thoracic quantitative computed tomographic (QCT) parameters. OBJECTIVES We sought to compare QCT parameters of airway remodeling, air trapping, and emphysema between asthmatic patients and patients with COPD and explore their relationship with airflow limitation. METHODS Asthm...

BACKGROUND Epidemiological studies suggest a link between vitamin D deficiency in early life and development of asthma in later life. AIM The aim of this study was to measure serum vitamin D levels in asthmatic children and to compare these to healthy non-asthmatic controls. METHODS Asthmatic (n = 483) and healthy control (n = 483) children were recruited from the Pediatric Allergy-Immunolo...

objective: childhood infectious diseases are one of the most known environmental pathogenic causes of childhood asthma. the high prevalence of both helicobacter pylori infection and asthma in our country prompted us to assess anyprobable as- sociation between them in childhood. methods: this cross-sectional study recruited 196 children aged 6 to 12 years old comprising 98 asthmatic (case group)...

oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. paraoxonase 1 (pon1) and arylesterase are esterase enzymes displaying antioxidant characteristics. pon1 activity varies widely among individuals and ethnic groups, partly related to polymorphisms. the aim of this study was to determine the activities of pon1 and arylesterase including the phenotype distribution of pon1 in asthmatic pat...

BACKGROUND The role of leukotriene (LT) B4, a potent inflammatory mediator, in atopic asthmatic and atopic nonasthmatic children is largely unknown. The lack of a gold standard technique for measuring LTB4 in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) has hampered its quantitative assessment in this biological fluid. We sought to measure LTB4 in EBC in atopic asthmatic children and atopic nonasthmatic chi...