Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0034063 (pulmonary edema)
 10,665 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Morbidity and mortality rates of ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) are high in patients with a history of chronic alcohol abuse. In addition to susceptibility to lung infection, alteration of local cellular functions in the lung has recently been proposed as a new mechanism of exacerbation of ARDS in patients with a history of chronic alcohol abuse. Clinical studies and studies using animal experiments have shown that a decrease in lung glutathione levels is associated with exacerbation of ARDS in chronic alcohol abuse. In the alcoholic lung, depletion of glutathione increases oxidative stress derived from activated neutrophils, resulting in decreased surfactant production, apoptosis and increased permeability of alveolar epithelial type II cells, in which TGF-beta1 may be involved. Acetoaldehyde has been suggested to be involved in the mechanism of exacerbation of ARDS by inducing lung remodeling through stimulation of fibronectin expression following nicotinic acetylcholine receptor stimulation and CREB activation in chronic alcohol abuse. More recently, antagonists of angiotensin II type-1 receptor (AT1 receptor) have been shown to prevent glutathione depletion, increase in TGF-beta1 expression and lung edema in endotoxemic rats with chronic alcohol administration. On the other hand, macrophage-derived prostaglandin E2 plays a protective role at an initial phase of ARDS by inhibiting cytokine production by macrophages and extravascular invasion of activated neutrophils. Our recent studies have shown that LPS-induced COX-2 expression and subsequent prostaglandin E2 production in rat alveolar macrophages are inhibited by ethanol incubation in vitro and ethanol administration in vivo. Only a decade has passed since alcohol abuse was demonstrated to be associated with increased mortality of ARDS and future studies are needed to clarify the mechanism underlying alcohol-induced exacerbation of ARDS.
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PMID:[Alcohol abuse as a risk factor for ARDS]. 1717 45

Studies on different populations have suggested variability in individual susceptibility to altitude sickness depending on genetic makeup. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) pathway plays a key role in regulation of vascular tone and circulatory homeostasis. The present study was undertaken to investigate the possible association of the RAAS in the development of high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) in lowlanders exposed to high altitude. Three categories of subjects were selected: individuals who developed HAPE on acute induction to high altitude (HAPE); individuals tolerant to high-altitude exposure who showed no symptoms of HAPE (resistant controls; rCON); and natives of high altitude (HAN). Genetic variants in the genes of the RAAS such as renin (REN), angiotensin (AGT), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) and angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AGTR1) have been investigated. The T174M polymorphism in AGT showed a significant difference in HAPE and HAN and also HAN and controls. Also, genotyping in the CYP11B2 T-344C promoter region resulted in a significant difference between HAPE and HAN both at genotypic and allelic levels. The genotypic difference was statistically insignificant for the AGTR1 A1166C 3' UTR. The present investigation demonstrates a possible association between the polymorphisms existing in the RAAS pathway T174M and CYP11B2 C-344T and sensitivity of an individual to develop HAPE. The results also indicate the existence of ethnic variation between the HAN and the other two groups comprising lowlanders.
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PMID:Association of polymorphisms in angiotensin and aldosterone synthase genes of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system with high-altitude pulmonary edema. 2215 39