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)

Growing evidence suggests that eosinophils play an important role as proinflammatory cells in asthma, possibly by releasing toxic cationic proteins. In this study concentrations of serum and sputum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) from 134 patients with productive cough and a history suggestive of airflow obstruction were measured by radioimmunoassay. Small sputum volumes were suspended in saline, vortexed, and centrifuged and ECP measured in the supernatant. Serum ECP levels ranged from 0.002 to 0.095 mg/L (0.016 +/- 0.0014), whereas sputum ECP concentrations were between 0.024 and 5.66 mg/L ECP per g sputum (0.878 +/- 0.092). Only 17 of the 134 patients (14 asthma, one cystic fibrosis, one bronchiectasis, and one bronchitis) had not been pretreated with corticosteroids. Sputum but not serum ECP levels of the 14 patients with asthma were inversely correlated with impairment of FEV1 (r = -0.73). Airway resistance (Raw) (r = 0.71) as well as the change in FEV1 (r = 0.79) and Raw (r = 0.84) after inhalation of 0.2 mg albuterol were positively correlated. This relationship was not observed in the remaining 117 patients on topical and/or systemic corticosteroids, suggesting that corticosteroid treatment influences sputum ECP levels. Also, sputum ECP levels and the degree of sputum eosinophilia were not correlated in any of the patient groups. Neither did serum ECP levels predict sputum ECP concentrations. We conclude that sputum ECP concentrations serve as a marker of eosinophil degranulation in the sputum, and this marker correlates with airflow obstruction. Sputum ECP levels are more closely related to lung function parameters than serum ECP concentrations and/or microscopic sputum analysis.
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PMID:Sputum ECP levels correlate with parameters of airflow obstruction. 151 35

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

Methods to examine sputum for indices of airway inflammation are evolving. We have examined the repeatability and the validity of an improved method to measure sputum cells and fluid-phase eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), major basic protein (MBP), eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN), albumin, fibrinogen, tryptase, and interleukin-5 (IL-5). Sputum was induced with hypertonic saline twice within 6 d in 10 healthy subjects, 19 stable asthmatics, and 10 smokers with nonobstructive bronchitis. The method included the processing of freshly expectorated sputum separated from saliva, treatment with a fixed proportion of dithiothreitol 0.1% followed by Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline, making cytospins, and collecting the supernatant. The reproducibility of measurements, calculated by the intraclass correlation coefficient, was high for all indices measured with the exception of total cell counts and proportion of lymphocytes. Asthmatics, in comparison with healthy subjects and smokers with bronchitis, had a higher proportion of sputum eosinophils (median percent 5.2 versus 0.5 and 0.3), metachromatic cells (0.3 versus 0.07 and 0.08), ECP (1,040 micrograms/L versus 288 and 352), MBP (1,176 micrograms/L versus 304 and 160), and EDN (1,512 micrograms/L versus 448 and 272). Asthmatics differed from healthy subjects, but not from smokers with bronchitis, in the proportion of neutrophils (46.9% versus 24.1%), albumin (704 versus 288 micrograms/mL), and fibrinogen (2,080 versus 440 ng/mL). Smokers with bronchitis showed a trend for a higher neutrophil count and levels of albumin and fibrinogen than healthy subjects. The proportion of sputum eosinophils correlated positively with ECP, MBP, EDN, albumin and fibrinogen levels, and metachromatic cell counts correlated with tryptase. In asthmatics, IL-5 correlated with eosinophil counts. There was a significant negative correlation between sputum indices and expiratory flows and methacholine PC20. Thus, the methods of measuring cell and fluid phase markers in induced sputum used in this study are reproducible and valid. They can therefore be used to reliably measure these indices of airway inflammation.
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PMID:Indices of airway inflammation in induced sputum: reproducibility and validity of cell and fluid-phase measurements. 2597 85

A reliable predictor of benefit from corticosteroid treatment in patients with chronic airflow limitation is needed. In a single-blind, sequential crossover trial of placebo and prednisone (30 mg/day) treatment, with each given for 2 wk, we investigated whether an increased proportion of sputum eosinophils (>= 3%) predicts a beneficial effect of prednisone in smokers with severe obstructive bronchitis. Patients were seen before and after each treatment. Clinical measurements were made blind to the laboratory findings and vice-versa. Eighteen of 20 patients completed the study. Eight had sputum eosinophilia and similar clinical and physiologic characteristics to those of 10 patients without a finding of sputum eosinophilia. Only in patients with sputum eosinophilia did prednisone, as compared with placebo, produce a statistically significant and clinically important mean effect on effort dyspnea of 0.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.3 to 1.2), p = 0.008, and in quality of life of 1.96 (95% CI: 0.5 to 3.3), p = 0.01, associated with a small improvement in FEV1 of 0.11 L (95% CI: - 0.04 to 0.23 L), p = 0.05. In these patients, prednisone also produced a significant decline in the median sputum eosinophil percentage, from 9.7% to 0.5% (p = 0.002), eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), from 6, 000 microgram/L to 1,140 microgram/L (p < 0.001), and fibrinogen, from 25. 3 mg/L to 5.4 mg/L (p < 0.001). These findings indicate that in smokers with severe airflow limitation, sputum eosinophilia predicts a beneficial effect of prednisone treatment. Improvement in FEV1, after prednisone treatment in this population, is small, and may not be appreciated in clinical practice.
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PMID:Sputum eosinophilia predicts benefit from prednisone in smokers with chronic obstructive bronchitis. 981 1

Based on immunological and clinical examinations, 21 patients were diagnosed as having house dust mite (HDM)-induced chronic bronchitis and classified into three groups according to the clinical presentation of the disease: stable bronchitis, exacerbated bronchitis and asthma on top of bronchitis. Using ELISA, the levels of serum anti-Dermatophagoides farinae and anti-D. pteronyssinus IgG antibodies and plasma RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T-cell-expressed and secreted; a chemokine with attractive and activator role for eosinophils) were measured in correlation to serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP, a marker of eosinophil activation and degranulation measured by chemiluminescent immunometric technique). Using immunoblotting, IgG binding components of D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus were determined providing a clue for diagnosis of HDM-induced chronic bronchitis. Significant higher levels of anti-D. farinae and anti-D. pteronyssinus IgG antibodies and RANTES were found in asthmatic group followed by exacerbated chronic bronchitis in comparison to stable bronchitis and control groups. ECP level correlated significantly with IgG and RANTES levels in exacerbated bronchitis and asthmatic groups. The results provided evidence that over expression of IgG and RANTES plays a crucial role, as mediator in immunopathogenesis of HDM-induced chronic bronchitis and as marker of the immunological changes likely responsible for progression of bronchitis to asthma in HDM-sensitive patients yet, RANTES seemed to be an early indicator. Definition of the immunopathogenic role of IgG and RANTES in HDM-induced bronchitis should enable the manipulation of the critical immune response in the hope of establishing new therapies. D. farinae and D. pteronyssinu antigenic bands at > 205 and 205 KDa, respectively, considered together showed 71.4% sensitivity in diagnosis of HDM induced chronic bronchitis and 100% specificity by immuno-blotting.
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PMID:Immunopathogenic role of IgG antibody and RANTES in house dust mite-induced chronic bronchitis. 1588 Sep 99

Recruitment and activation of both neutrophils and eosinophils seem to be a characteristic of chronic bronchitis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether eosinophil cationic protein and/or myeloperoxidase (ECP/MPO) serum levels differ between patients with chronic obstructive and nonobstructive bronchitis during an exacerbation-free period and if they represent clinical gravity indicators of disease. To identify a correlation between ECP/MPO values in serum and bronco-obstruction, a statistical analysis by logistic regression was used. Study results show that there is a relationship between increased serum levels of ECP and log MPO and an increased risk for forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) pathologic values associated with obstructive chronic bronchitis, with an ECP odds ratio = 1.04 and logMPO = 4.45.
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PMID:Increased serum inflammatory markers as predictors of airway obstruction. 1705 Feb 23

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