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Query: UMLS:C0149514 (bronchitis)
 6,902 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

1. Neutrophils from patients with chronic obstructive bronchitis and emphysema or age-matched control subjects were cultured on a substrate of 125I-fibronectin. The neutrophils from patients with lung disease digested significantly more fibronectin and released more elastase into the culture supernatant than did cells from control subjects. Preincubation of neutrophils from emphysematous patients with plasma from control subjects significantly inhibited fibronectin digestion by the patients' neutrophils by, on average, 10%. Preincubation of control subjects' neutrophils with plasma from emphysematous patients had no effect on fibronectin digestion. 2. Tumour necrosis factor increased fibronectin digestion in a dose-dependent manner when the cytokine was added to the adherent cells but not when preincubated with the polymorphonuclear leucocytes in suspension. Bacterial endotoxin in concentrations above 6 micrograms/ml significantly increased fibronectin digestion by neutrophils, but leukotriene B4, interferon-gamma and interleukin-1 alpha had no significant effects. 3. Dexamethasone inhibited fibronectin digestion by neutrophils in a dose-dependent manner, from 11% at 10(-10) mol/l to 68% at 10(-3) mol/l.
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PMID:Effects of plasma, tumour necrosis factor, endotoxin and dexamethasone on extracellular proteolysis by neutrophils from healthy subjects and patients with emphysema. 275 60

The cholinergic system in rat and human airways and the effects of glucocorticoids were investigated by assay of choline acetyltransferase activity, by high-pressure liquid chromatography measurement of acetylcholine, and by anti-choline acetyltransferase immunocyto-/histochemistry. Human bronchi were obtained at surgery from patients with lung cancer. Group 1 patients did not suffer from additional lung diseases and had not been treated with glucocorticoids. Group 2 patients, who suffered in addition to lung cancer from chronic obstructive bronchitis, had been treated for at least 6 weeks before surgery with four puffs of flusinolid daily. Isolated bronchial epithelial cells as well as intact surface epithelium of human bronchi expressed choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity and choline acetyltransferase enzyme activity (3 +/- 1 nmol/mg protein per h). Ciliated epithelial cells showed strong choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity at the basal body and the roolet of cilia. Surface epithelium in group 1 and 2 bronchi contained 23 +/- 6 (n = 14) and 1.8 +/- 0.3 pmol/g acetylcholine) (n = 7, P < 0.001), respectively, whereas the transmural acetylcholine content did not differ significantly between both groups. The amount of choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity appeared similar in the surface epithelium of both groups. In an animal (rat) study the effects of oral dexamethasone (3 mg/day, 1 week) on choline acetyltransferase activity and acetylcholine levels were investigated. Dexamethasone treatment reduced epithelial acetylcholine in the airways and small intestine by about 80% and inhibited epithelial choline acetyltransferase activity. In conclusion, epithelial cells of human airways possess components of the cholinergic system, i.e., contain the synthesizing enzyme choline acetyltransferase and store acetylcholine. The data obtained from the animal study indicate that glucocorticoids can inhibit epithelial acetylcholine.
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PMID:Glucocorticoids mediate reduction of epithelial acetylcholine content in the airways of rats and humans. 967 Nov 8