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Query: UMLS:C0034067 (emphysema)
 11,506 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Several lines of evidence indicate that neutrophil elastase and oxidants secreted by phagocytic inflammatory cells play key roles in the development of centrilobular emphysema. A recent report suggests that ethanol consumption may have a protective role against this disease in smokers. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of ethanol consumption on neutrophil elastase activity and superoxide production of peripheral blood neutrophils. These activities were measured in neutrophils from 52 male intoxicated patients and compared to activities in neutrophils from 20 male volunteers. Neutrophils from intoxicated patients contained 31% less elastase activity than that found in controls, 0.99 +/- 0.27 versus 1.44 +/- 0.23 micrograms/10(6) neutrophils (p less than 0.0001) and produced 25 to 27% less superoxide than controls in response to phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate, 0.90 +/- 0.17 versus 1.2 +/- 0.21 nmol/min/10(6) PMN (p less than 0.0001) or N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine, 0.64 +/- 0.19 versus 0.88 +/- 0.24 (p less than 0.001). In follow-up studies of 10 patients admitted for acute alcoholism, elastase activity and superoxide production remained low for 2 to 4 days. After 6 to 10 days, elastase activity and superoxide production were significantly greater than they were at Day 0 and approached normal levels. Neutrophils isolated from blood samples of healthy abstaining donors, which had been exposed to ethanol or to plasma from inebriated patients for 16 to 20 h, showed no loss of elastase activity or superoxide production.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Neutrophil elastase activity and superoxide production are diminished in neutrophils of alcoholics. 216 Feb 12

To place previously recognized mortality risks into the context of the total mortality from all causes, an updated retrospective cohort mortality study was conducted on 3,238 white males from the US Public Health Service cohort of Colorado Plateau uranium miners. Vital status was followed from 1960 through 1990. Life-table analyses used combined New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado mortality rates for external comparison and mortality risks within the lowest radon-exposure or duration-employed category for internal comparison. Significantly elevated SMRs were found for pneumoconioses (SMR = 24.1, 95% CI 16.0-33.7), lung cancer (SMR = 5.8, 95% CI 5.2-6.4), tuberculosis (SMR = 3.7, 95% CI 1.9-6.2), chronic obstructive respiratory diseases (SMR = 2.8, 95% CI 2.2-3.5), emphysema (SMR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.9-3.2), benign and unspecified tumors (SMR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.0-4.6), and diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs (SMR = 2.4, 95% CI 1.0-5.0). No significantly lowered SMRs were found for any disease. For lung cancer and pneumoconioses standardized rate ratios increased with increasing exposure to radon progeny or duration of employment. Most findings from this update are consistent with previous studies. Not observed were previously elevated SMRs for chronic nephritis and for acute alcoholism. New findings observed were elevated SMRs for benign and unspecified tumors and for diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs. The most important long-term mortality risks for the white uranium-miners continue to be lung cancer and pneumoconioses, for which SMRs remain significantly elevated after a mean period of 22.4 years since last uranium mining.
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PMID:An update of mortality from all causes among white uranium miners from the Colorado Plateau Study Group. 902 38