Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0149514 (bronchitis)
 6,902 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Eosinophilic bronchitis and desquamation of the bronchial mucosa are the salient features of the pathology of both allergic (extrinsic) and nonallergic (intrinsic) asthma. Because of this association, the possibility of the eosinophil being the cause of the injury to the bronchial mucosa has been investigated during the last decade. In vitro, eosinophil granule major basic protein (MBP) concentrations as low as 10 micrograms.ml-1 cause desquamation and destruction of the epithelium of the airways which mimic the morphology of damage to the mucosa of the bronchi in asthma. Concentrations of MBP in the cytotoxic range for the bronchial mucosa in vitro have been measured in sputum of asthmatics (up to 92 micrograms.ml-1) and decline with treatment. Deposits of MBP have been detected by immunofluorescence within ulcerated areas of bronchial mucosa and necrotic portions of the bronchial wall in patients who had died of asthma. Most recently, the eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) and the eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) have also been found to be toxic for the epithelium of the airways in vitro, thus increasing the cytotoxic capability of the eosinophil against the bronchial mucosa in asthma. These latest research data continue to support the "eosinophil hypothesis" in the pathogenesis of this disease. According to this hypothesis, in the formidably complex network of cells and mediators responsible for the bronchial obstruction, the destruction of the mucociliary apparatus and the characteristic hyperresponsiveness of the airways in asthma; the eosinophil is the principal effector cell. In bronchial asthma a T cell modulated eosinophilic bronchitis is the primary abnormality while bronchospasm and hyperreactivity of the airways are secondary phenomena.
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PMID:The eosinophilic injury to the mucosa of the airways in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma. 195 9

Eosinophils are regarded as the major effector cells that produce symptoms in allergic diseases. Activation of eosinophils induces extracellular release of a number of eosinophil granule proteins, including major basic protein (MBP), eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), eosinophil peroxidase (EPO), and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin. The objective of this study was to evaluate the differences and significance of the sputum eosinophil% and expression levels of eosinophilic granule protein mRNAs in allergic airway disease. Induced sputum samples were obtained from non-smokers with 25 asthma, 54 eosinophilic bronchitis, 16 allergic rhinitis, and 19 healthy control subjects. The eosinophil granule protein mRNAs were measured with real time RT-PCR. There was no correlation between the sputum eosinophil% and the mRNA level of any of eosinophil granule proteins. However, the expression levels of MBP and ECP mRNAs were higher in subjects with each of the specified allergic diseases than those in control subjects (P < 0.05). Moreover, in the subjects with allergic sensitization, the expression levels of MBP and EPO mRNAs were significantly higher in those with airway hyperresponsiveness (13 subjects) than in those without airway hyperresponsiveness (32 subjects) (P = 0.004 and 0.010, respectively). In asthma patients, the FEV1% was negatively correlated with ECP mRNA levels (r = -0.510, P = 0.022), but showed no correlation with sputum eosinophil%. In conclusion, mRNA levels of eosinophil granule proteins, rather than sputum eosinophil%, may reflect airway hyperresponsiveness and airflow limitation. In practice, consideration for the eosinophil% as well as the eosinophil granule proteins levels in induced sputum is needed.
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PMID:Expression levels of eosinophil granule protein mRNAs in induced sputum reflect airway hyperresponsiveness and airflow limitation. 2481 27

Approximately 50% of asthma exacerbations and a third of COPD exacerbations are associated with an eosinophilic bronchitis. Quantitative cell counts reliably identify the number of eosinophils in sputum and treatment strategies that are guided by sputum eosinophil counts lead to significantly better outcomes than strategies guided by conventional assessments of symptoms and airflow. However, cell counts are not widely available and the results are not available in real time. Similarly, more sophisticated detection methods using immunoassays or genetic analysis via polymerase chain reaction are too costly and thus not amenable to rapid point-of-care diagnosis. Blood eosinophil counts and fraction of exhaled nitric oxide correlate poorly with airway eosinophilia, particularly in patients with severe airway diseases who are on corticosteroid therapy. Point of care assessments of eosinophil-specific activity may be provided by breathomics that employ metabolomics profiling of volatile compounds in breath. However, it is too early to decide if this would provide quantitative data to monitor therapy and disease activities longitudinally. Herein we provide a perspective on the potential for developing simple point-of-care tests with special emphasis on the potential for a bio-active paper diagnostic test to quantitatively assay the amount of eosinophil peroxidase in sputum samples by employing different types of detection systems.
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PMID:A perspective on point-of-care tests to detect eosinophilic bronchitis. 2527 85