Related Articles

Taste receptors in asthma.

Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2014 Dec 6;

Authors: Grassin-Delyle S, Naline E, Devillier P

Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Although today's cornerstone therapies for asthma (inhaled bronchodilators and corticosteroids) target airway narrowing and lung inflammation, about half of treated asthmatic patients do not achieve good disease control. There is a clear need for new therapeutic approaches and novel drug targets. Recent research has unexpectedly revealed that certain taste receptors (particularly those involved in bitter taste transduction) are expressed in lung tissue.
RECENT FINDINGS: Bitter taste receptors are expressed in several cell types in the lungs (such as chemosensory cells, epithelial cells, smooth muscle cells, lymphocytes, and macrophages) and variously involved in ciliary beating, muscle relaxation, and/or inhibition of the production of inflammatory mediators. Here, we review recent research on the role of bitter taste receptors in experimental models of asthma and in asthmatics.
SUMMARY: The currently available data suggest that bitter taste receptor agonists have therapeutic potential in chronic obstructive airway diseases such as asthma.

PMID: 25486380 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles

Preoperative evaluation of the patient with lung cancer being considered for lung resection.

Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2014 Dec 6;

Authors: Choi H, Mazzone P

Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review summarizes the general approach to evaluating the cardiopulmonary fitness of a patient with lung cancer being considered for lung resection. Many patients have a high risk for morbidity and mortality from lung resection owing to severe comorbidities or low cardiopulmonary reserve. A comprehensive and individualized assessment is essential to identify the factors that may impact operative outcome.
RECENT FINDINGS: Identification of comorbid conditions related to cigarette smoking, particularly cardiovascular diseases, is essential because they need to be managed in advance. In those with low predicted postoperative forced expiratory volume during first second (FEV1) or carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO), or impaired performance on a low-technology exercise test, cardiopulmonary exercise testing should be considered.
SUMMARY: Preoperative assessment requires an understanding of the relative benefits and harms of available treatment options and consideration of patients' values. A balance between the potential to cure one's cancer and the short-term and long-term risks of the selected treatment needs to be reached. All patients should have a baseline FEV1 and DLCO measured, and predicted postoperative FEV1 and DLCO calculated to assist with risk prediction. Measures of exercise performance can help to further risk stratify patients. Means of modifying the risks should be considered for all patients. VIDEO ABSTRACT:

PMID: 25486485 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles

Risk factors shared by COPD and lung cancer and mediation effect of COPD: two center case-control studies.

Cancer Causes Control. 2014 Dec 7;

Authors: Yang L, Lu X, Deng J, Zhou Y, Huang D, Qiu F, Yang X, Yang R, Fang W, Ran P, Zhong N, Zhou Y, Fang S, Lu J

Abstract
PURPOSE: To reveal the shared risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer, and to analyze the mediation effect of COPD during lung carcinogenesis.
METHODS: We conducted four independent case-control studies included 1,511 COPD patients and 1,677 normal lung function controls and 1,559 lung cancer cases and 1,679 cancer-free controls during 2002-2011 in southern and eastern Chinese.
RESULTS: Eight factors were observed to be consistently associated with both diseases risk, including pre-existing tuberculosis, smoking, passive smoking, occupational exposure to metallic toxicant, poor housing ventilation, biomass burning, cured meat consumption, and seldom vegetables/fruits consumption. Furthermore, smoking and biomass burning conferred significantly higher risk effects on lung cancer in individuals with pre-existing COPD than those without. COPD also had significant mediation effects during lung carcinogenesis caused by smoking, passive smoking, and biomass burning, which explained about 12.0 % of effect, 3.8 % of effect, and 6.1 % of effect of these factors on lung tumorigenesis in turn.
CONCLUSION: Our study mapped a shared spectrum of etiological factors for both COPD and lung cancer in Chinese, and COPD acts as a mediator during lung cancer development. These observations should be in consideration for the prevention of both diseases.

PMID: 25488825 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Related Articles

Intubation-mediated Intratracheal (IMIT) Instillation: A Noninvasive, Lung-specific Delivery System.

J Vis Exp. 2014;(93)

Authors: Lawrenz MB, Fodah RA, Gutierrez MG, Warawa J

Abstract
Respiratory disease studies typically involve the use of murine models as surrogate systems. However, there are significant physiologic differences between the murine and human respiratory systems, especially in their upper respiratory tracts (URT). In some models, these differences in the murine nasal cavity can have a significant impact on disease progression and presentation in the lower respiratory tract (LRT) when using intranasal instillation techniques, potentially limiting the usefulness of the mouse model to study these diseases. For these reasons, it would be advantageous to develop a technique to instill bacteria directly into the mouse lungs in order to study LRT disease in the absence of involvement of the URT. We have termed this lung specific delivery technique intubation-mediated intratracheal (IMIT) instillation. This noninvasive technique minimizes the potential for instillation into the bloodstream, which can occur during more invasive traditional surgical intratracheal infection approaches, and limits the possibility of incidental digestive tract delivery. IMIT is a two-step process in which mice are first intubated, with an intermediate step to ensure correct catheter placement into the trachea, followed by insertion of a blunt needle into the catheter to mediate direct delivery of bacteria into the lung. This approach facilitates a >98% efficacy of delivery into the lungs with excellent distribution of reagent throughout the lung. Thus, IMIT represents a novel approach to study LRT disease and therapeutic delivery directly into the lung, improving upon the ability to use mice as surrogates to study human respiratory disease. Furthermore, the accuracy and reproducibility of this delivery system also makes it amenable to Good Laboratory Practice Standards (GLPS), as well as delivery of a wide range of reagents which require high efficiency delivery to the lung.

PMID: 25490457 [PubMed - in process]