BACKGROUND Local IgE production may play a role in asthma pathogenesis. The aim of the study was to assess sputum total IgE and cytokines in asthmatics according to sputum cellular phenotype. METHODS We studied 122 subjects including 22 non atopic healthy subjects, 41 eosinophilic (sputum eosinophils ≥3%), 16 neutrophilic (sputum neutrophils >76%) and 43 pauci-granulocytic asthmatics (sputum ...

The reproducibility of sputum cell counts was examined and the cell counts in patients with asthma were compared with those in patients with chronic bronchitis. Three groups of subjects were studied. Sputum from eight patients with chronic asthma and with sputum production were studied to determine the reproducibility of sputum cell counts. The findings in 10 non-smokers with asthma uncomplicat...

The aim of this study was to assess the value of examining multiple sputum specimens in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). We analyzed sputum smear and culture results of patients diagnosed with culture-proven PTB during 2002. In 1027 patients, the diagnosis was established by detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli in sputum samples. The number of sputum specimens submitted...

a 46- year–old man with pulmonary tuberculosis which had treated with ant tuberculosis drugs was referred to medical mycology laboratory, school of public health and institute of public health research for coughing and bloody sputum. chest x-ray revealed a cavern with a moveable mass in right apical lobe. direct examination of sputum showed wide septated dichotomous hyphae and aspergillus fumig...

Objective(s) Considering fair response to inhaled corticosteroids and reports of severe air way hyper responsiveness in chemical warfare victims (CWV), a role for eosinophilic inflammation (i.e. asthma) was postulated. The objective of this study was to determine the presence of eosinophilic inflammation in CWV by evaluation of Sputum cellularity and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP). Materials...

Quantitative lytA real-time PCR (rtPCR) results from nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs distinguish community-acquired pneumococcal pneumonia (CAP) from asymptomatic colonization. The use of an optimized cutoff value improved pneumococcal etiology determination compared to that of traditional diagnostic methods. Here, we compare the utility of lytA rtPCR from induced sputum and from NP swabs. Pneumococc...

The sputum (mucus) layer of the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung is a complex substrate that provides Pseudomonas aeruginosa with carbon and energy to support high-density growth during chronic colonization. Unfortunately, the CF lung sputum layer has been difficult to mimic in animal models of CF disease, and mechanistic studies of P. aeruginosa physiology during growth in CF sputum are hampered by i...

OBJECTIVE To assess the patient information process before sputum sample collection, the quality of sputum sample and transmission of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) examination results to TB suspects, in three local areas of Nicaragua. METHODS (a) directed interviews of consecutive series of TB suspects whose sputum had been examined for AFB; (b) directed interview of health personnel; and (c) asses...

In patients with asthma, when it is combined with chronic bronchitis (CB) and COPD, and in patients with COPD, coughing is often accompanied by the production of sputum. Certainly spontaneously produced sputum is investigated in these cases [1]. However, many patients with chronic inflammatory lung disease do not spontaneously produce sputum [2], so that induced sputum is studied in these cases...

BACKGROUND Up to one third of HIV-infected individuals with suspected TB are sputum-scarce. The Alere Determine™ TB LAM Ag lateral flow strip test can be used to diagnose TB in HIV-infected patients with advanced immunosuppression. However, how urine LAM testing should be incorporated into testing algorithms and in the context of specific patient sub-groups remains unclear. METHODS This study...