The present study assessed the diagnostic usefulness of a multiplex PCR (mPCR) for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydophila pneumoniae applied to bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Fibreoptic bronchoscopy was performed on 156 hospitalised adult patients with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) and 36 controls. BAL fluid was analysed with bacteria...

The increased number of lymphocytes in airways during an asthmatic response is believed to be the result of increased recruitment of these cells. However, it is possible that a decreased apoptotic rate could also contribute to the increased number. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether allergen airway provocation influences the apoptotic phenotype of lung and peripheral blood ...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the leading killer of adults in developing and underdeveloped nations. HIV/ AIDS have also contributed to increase in the incidence of tuberculosis. In our study, we evaluated the significance of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in the early diagnosis of occult sputum smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis. We could establish the diagnosis of tuberculosis in 20 (87%) of...

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death in people with HIV (PWH) on or off antiretroviral therapy (ART); thus, new TB vaccine candidates should be evaluated setting HIV. Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), live attenuated bacterial given intradermally (ID) at birth, contraindicated PWH. We recently demonstrated that intravenous (IV) delivery BCG elicits superior...

BACKGROUND To obtain insight into the mechanisms of tissue injury in lung disease due to Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS), the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cell profile and the levels in the BAL fluid of cell products released by activated eosinophils and neutrophils were assessed. METHODS Thirteen patients with active progressive CSS (n = 7) or CSS in partial remission (n = 6) underwent clinical...

in the last few years many chemically injured patients have been visited throughout the country in order to investigate the late respiratory complications of sulfur mustard. 35 patients who were previously admitted for mustard poisoning underwent complete clinical examination as well as spirometry, fiberoptic bronchoscopy (fob), bronchoalveolar lavage (bal), and trans bronchial lung biopsy (tbl...

background and purpose: pneumocystis pneumonia, caused by pneumocystis jirovecii, is a fatal disease threatening patients with aids or immunosuppression. assessment of colonization in these patients is of great significance, since it can lead to severe pulmonary disorders. considering the scarcity of published reports on pneumocystis jirovecii isolates from patients in mashhad, iran, we aimed t...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary infections are associated with an increase in capillary permeability but information regarding age related differences in the local inflammatory response is lacking. To quantify the degree of capillary leakage during inflammation, the concentrations of the plasma proteins albumin, alpha1-antitrypsin, alpha2-macroglobulin and the locally produced proteins elastase, myelopero...

Pulmonary involvement is a clinically important form of visceral Kaposi's sarcoma in immunocompromised patients. Recently, herpesvirus-like deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences, defining a new herpesvirus termed "human herpesvirus 8" (HHV8) or "Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus" (KSHV), were detected in Kaposi's sarcoma of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and non-AIDS patients....

We intratracheally administered lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to ICR mice and then collected BAL fluid and lung tissue to determine whether levels of neutrophils and/or myeloperoxidase (MPO) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid reflect lung tissue damage. Robust neutrophil accumulation into the alveolar space and lung tissue were almost completely abolished at seven days along with oxidative stress...