Airway mucus

BACKGROUND: Asthma is widely recognized as an inflammatory disorder. In the context of this inflammatory microenvironment, the involvement of hypoxia and its impact on related pathways have drawn considerable attention. However, the exact role of hypoxia, a prevalent environmental factor, in the development and progression of asthma remains poorly understood. METHODS: Mice were treated with house dust mite (HDM) extracts for 23 days to induce asthma. Mice were divided into room air (RA) group and intermittent hypoxic (IH) group by exposing to different conditions and IH preconditioning (IHP) were underwent to the above groups before the hypoxic regimen...

RATIONALE: Bronchiectasis is a pathological dilatation of the bronchi in the respiratory airways associated with environmental or genetic causes (e.g., cystic fibrosis, primary ciliary dyskinesia and primary immunodeficiency disorders), but most cases remain idiopathic. OBJECTIVES: To identify novel genetic defects in unsolved cases of bronchiectasis presenting with severe rhinosinusitis, nasal polyposis, and pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. METHODS: DNA was analyzed by next-generation or targeted Sanger sequencing...

Background : Airway care interventions and prone positioning are used in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) to improve oxygenation and facilitate mucus removal. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision-making process regarding the practice of airway care interventions and prone positioning was challenging. Objective: To provide an overview of the practice of airway care interventions and prone positioning during the second wave of the pandemic in the Netherlands...

BACKGROUND: Electroacupuncture (EA) treatment is efficacious in patients with respiratory disorders, although the mechanisms of its action in lung-function protection are poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the neuroanatomical mechanisms of EA stimulation at the BL13 acupoint (Feishu, EA-BL13) improvement in asthma. METHODS: Allergic asthma was induced by intranasal 2.0% ovalbumin (OVA) instillation combined with intraperitoneal injection of the 10.0% OVA...

BACKGROUND: Bronchial thermoplasty (BT) improves clinical outcomes and quality of life for patients with severe asthma and has shown sustained reductions in airway narrowing and air trapping in previous CT studies. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive analysis, including CT evaluation, of clinical outcomes in Japanese patients who have undergone BT for severe asthma. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of BT in Japanese asthma patients, with a focus on the CT metric "WA at Pi10" to assess airway disease...

INTRODUCTION: Aerobic physical training (APT) reduces eosinophilic airway inflammation, but its effects and mechanisms in severe asthma remain unknown. METHODS: An in vitro study employing key cells involved in the pathogenesis of severe asthma, such as freshly isolated human eosinophils, neutrophils, and bronchial epithelial cell lineage (BEAS-2B) and lung fibroblasts (MRC-5 cells), was conducted. Additionally, an in vivo study using male C57Bl/6 mice, including Control (Co; n = 10), Trained (Exe; n = 10), house dust mite (HDM; n = 10), and HDM + Trained (HDM + Exe; n = 10) groups, was carried out, with APT performed at moderate intensity, 5x/week, for 4 weeks...

OBJECTIVES: As cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease progresses, the airways become infected with opportunistic pathogens, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). In October 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration approved elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (ETI), a highly effective modulator therapy (HEMT), for individuals 12 years and older with 1 copy of the F508del cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator ( CFTR ) mutation. ETI increases the amount of and function of CFTR in the respiratory epithelium, improving mucociliary clearance and reducing static airway mucus, a major trigger for chronic infection and inflammation...

Eosinophilic inflammation is primarily characterized by type 2 immune responses against parasitic organisms. In the contemporary human being especially in developed countries, eosinophilic inflammation is strongly associated with allergic/sterile inflammation, and constitutes an undesired immune reaction. This situation is in stark contrast to neutrophilic inflammation, which is indispensable for the host defense against bacterial infections. Among eosinophilic inflammatory disorders, massive accumulation of eosinophils within mucus is observed in certain cases, and is often linked to the distinctive clinical finding of mucus with high viscosity...

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Right middle lobe syndrome (MLS) is a rare lung disorder primarily affecting children with a history of asthma or atopy. It encompasses a range of pathological and clinical conditions, from recurrent collapses of the middle lobe to bronchiectasis. In this study, the authors present a case series featuring four individuals with MLS associated with asthma, aiming to deepen our understanding of this uncommon condition. CASE PRESENTATION: Four paediatric patients with right MLS exhibited symptoms of persistent cough, dyspnoea, and recurrent asthma exacerbations...

Obese asthma is recognized to have different asthma phenotypes. N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have shown beneficial effects in obesity and metabolic syndrome. Free fatty acid receptor 4 (FFA4, also known as GPR120) is a receptor for n-3 PUFAs. In the present study, we investigated whether FFA4 activation ameliorates high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese asthma. We investigated whether FFA4 activation ameliorates obese asthma using an FFA4 agonist, compound A (CpdA), in combination with FFA4 wild-type (WT) and knock-out (KO) mice...

Asthma is deemed an inflammatory disease, yet the defining diagnostic feature is mechanical bronchoconstriction. We previously discovered a conserved process called cell extrusion that drives homeostatic epithelial cell death when cells become too crowded. In this work, we show that the pathological crowding of a bronchoconstrictive attack causes so much epithelial cell extrusion that it damages the airways, resulting in inflammation and mucus secretion in both mice and humans. Although relaxing the airways with the rescue treatment albuterol did not affect these responses, inhibiting live cell extrusion signaling during bronchoconstriction prevented all these features...

UNLABELLED: The Plunging or cervical ranula is a mucus pseudocyst extension of the sublingual gland that is located below the mylohyoid muscle. In infants, owing to small sublingual and cervical space, clinically large cervical ranulas can lead to a significant impact on swallowing, crying, and even breathing (Carlini et al. in Pediatr Rep 8(4):6576, 2016; Övet et al. in Turk Arch Otorhinolaryngol 53(3):133-135, 2015). In these clinical pictures, we present a case of cervical ranula that grew in a short period leading to respiratory distress...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Xiaoqinglong Decotion (XQLD) is a commonly used Chinese herbal formula in clinical practice, especially for allergic diseases such as asthma. However, its intrinsic mechanism for the treatment of neutrophilic asthma (NA) remains unclear. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and potential mechanisms of XQLD on NA using network pharmacology and in vivo experiments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First, the active compounds, potential targets and mechanisms of XQLD against NA were initially elucidated by network pharmacology...

A 27-year-old female visited our hospital with a history of asthma, peripheral blood eosinophilia, increased total IgE, Aspergillus fumigatus specific IgE, reversible mild bronchiectasis, sinusitis, bronchial mucus plugs and cultivation of Aspergillus from BALF. Glucocorticoids therapy is effective. These results met the diagnostic criteria for both allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPM) and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). Special attention should be paid to the possibility of both diseases coexisting in the disease process...

Nowadays, the interest in research towards the local administration of drugs via the inhalation route is growing as it enables the direct targeting of the lung tissue, at the same time reducing systemic side effects. This is of great significance in the era of nucleic acid therapeutics and personalized medicine for the local treatment of severe lung diseases. However, the success of any inhalation therapy is driven by a delicate interplay of factors, such as the physiochemical profile of the payload, formulation, inhalation device, aerodynamic properties, and interaction with the lung fluids...

Inflammation and mucus production are prevalent characteristics of chronic respiratory conditions, such as asthma and chronic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Biological co-factors, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, may exacerbate these diseases by activating various pathways associated with airway diseases. An example is the fungus Pneumocystis , which is linked to severe COPD in human patients. Recent evidence has demonstrated that Pneumocystis significantly enhanced inflammation and mucus hypersecretion in a rat model of elastase-induced COPD...

Cilia are biological structures essential to drive the mobility of secretions and maintain the proper function of the respiratory airways. However, this motile self-cleaning process is significantly compromised in the presence of silicone tracheal prosthesis, leading to biofilm growth and impeding effective treatment. To address this challenge and enhance the performance of these devices, we propose the fabrication of magnetic silicone cilia, with the prospect of their integration onto silicone prostheses. The present study presents a fabrication method based on magnetic self-assembly and assesses the interaction behavior of the cilia array with biological mucus...

INTRODUCTION: With its introduction in 1986, the use of metal tracheal stents gained favor due to relative ease of deployment and reduced risk of stent migration and mucus plugging. However, adverse events associated with metal stenting led the FDA to publish a recommendation against its use for benign airway stenosis in 2005. We present a case which illustrates the difficulty in removal of a metal stent from the airway. CASE REPORT: Our patient is a 47-year-old woman with a history of postintubation tracheal stenosis...

A 60-year-old man treated with valproic acid (VPA) for epilepsy developed atelectasis and respiratory failure after an accidentally aspirated VPA tablet-induced mucus hypersecretion. Following bronchoscopic removal of the aspirated tablet, his respiratory status improved and massive sputum production did not recur. We hypothesized that the aspirated VPA tablet increased the expression of mucin-related genes, thereby increasing mucus production. Our in vitro experiments using a human respiratory epithelial cell line revealed that VPA directly upregulates the airway mucin-related genes...

INTRODUCTION: Demethylzeylasteral (T-96), a new extract of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, exerted immunomodulatory properties in autoimmune diseases, but its effect on airway inflammatory diseases remains unclear. Our study aims to explore the protective effect and underlying mechanism of T-96 in allergic asthma. METHODS: The OVA-induced asthmatic mice were administered by gavage with T-96 (0.1 mg/10 g, 0.3 mg/10 g, or 0.6 mg/10 g) 1 h before each challenge. The airway hyperresponsiveness was assessed, pathological changes were evaluated by HE and PAS staining, and expressions of Th2 cytokines were determined by PCR and ELISA...