支气管哮喘患者血清白介素-10与内皮素-1变化的研究

目的 :探讨支气管哮喘患者不同时期血清白介素 (IL) - 10、内皮素 (ET) - 1及IgE水平的变化及临床意义。方法 :采用酶联免疫法及放射免疫法分别测定不同时期支气管哮喘患者血清IL - 10、IgE和ET - 1水平 ,并与正常对照组进行统计分析。结果 :支气管哮喘患者发作期血清IL - 10水平显著低于缓解期和正常对照组 (P <0. 0 1) ,而ET - 1和IgE水平却显著高于缓解期和正常对照组 (P <0 .0 1)。IL - 10与ET - 1、IgE之间存在负相关 (r=- 0 . 6 8,r=- 0 . 74 ,P <0 . 0 1) ,而ET - 1与IgE之间呈正相关 (r=0 6 6 ,P <0 .0 1)。结论 :IL -10和ET - 1参与支气管哮喘发病的整个过程 ,在支气管哮喘患者不同时期检测血清IL - 10和ET - 1水平具有重要的临床意义。     

Exhaled Nitric Oxide Predicts Asthma Exacerbation

The fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is elevated in asthmatics compared to normal subjects. Many studies have demonstrated that FeNO correlates with other markers of airway inflammation. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical utility of routine monitoring of FeNO in determining its ability to predict future asthma exacerbations compared with other standard clinical measures of spirometry, peak flows, quality of life score, medication usage, and symptoms. A convenience sample of 22 patients with moderate and severe-persistent asthma in the University of New Mexico Adult Asthma Clinic were evaluated during a routine clinic visit and then noted whether they had an exacerbation within 2 weeks of the initial appointment. Those with an exacerbation had a higher mean FeNO (29.67 ppb ± 14.48) compared to those who did not (12.92 ppb ± 5.17), p = 0.002. A nominal logistic regression model to determine those variables that predict asthma exacerbation found that FeNO was the only significant predictor, p = 0.03. Thus, FeNO appears to be a clinically useful tool to assess disease control in this population.     

循证护理在提高哮喘患儿吸入治疗疗效中的作用

目的探讨循证护理在提高哮喘患儿吸入治疗疗效中的作用.方法 60例哮喘患儿随机分成两组,循证护理组和常规护理组,通过互联网和医院局域网,围绕“吸入疗法”在医学专业数据库行循证证据查询,主要应用吸入疗法进行哮喘防治,并在初诊后1、3、6个月时进行复诊,凡6个月后病情分级降1级以上为有效.结果两组患儿吸入治疗技术正确率循证护理组为91.9%,常规护理组为65.2%,两组间差别有显著性意义(P＜0.05);治疗后6个月两组患儿的病情分级间差别有显著性意义(P＜0.05).结论以循证护理思想为指导,在一定周期内对哮喘患儿及其家长进行系统宣教,能较好地提高患儿的吸入治疗正确率.     

Easy diagnosis of asthma: computer-assisted, symptom-based diagnosis

Diagnosis of asthma is often challenging in primary-care physicians due to lack of tools measuring airway obstruction and variability. Symptom-based diagnosis of asthma utilizing objective diagnostic parameters and appropriate software would be useful in clinical practice. A total of 302 adult patients with respiratory symptoms responded to a questionnaire regarding asthma symptoms and provoking factors. Questions were asked and recorded by physicians into a computer program. A definite diagnosis of asthma was made based on a positive response to methacholine bronchial provocation or bronchodilator response (BDR) testing. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the significance of questionnaire responses in terms of discriminating asthmatics. Asthmatic patients showed higher total symptom scores than non-asthmatics (mean 5.93 vs. 4.93; p<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that response to questions concerning the following significantly discriminated asthmatics; wheezing with dyspnea, which is aggravated at night, and by exercise, cold air, and upper respiratory infection. Moreover, the presence of these symptoms was found to agree significantly with definite diagnosis of asthma (by kappa statistics). Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the diagnostic accuracy of symptom-based diagnosis was high with an area under the curve of 0.647 +/- 0.033. Using a computer-assisted symptom-based diagnosis program, it is possible to increase the accuracy of diagnosing asthma in general practice, when the facilities required to evaluate airway hyperresponsiveness or BDR are unavailable.     

Identifying asthma exacerbations in a pediatric emergency department: a feasibility study

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a common pediatric chronic disease and is estimated to account for more than 2million emergency department visits per year. Asthma guidelines have demonstrated improved outcomes, but remain underutilized due to several barriers. Computerized methods to automatically identify asthma exacerbations may be beneficial to initiate guideline recommended treatment, but have not been described. The goal of the study was to examine the accuracy of an algorithm to identify asthma patients at triage in real-time using only electronically available data. METHODS: During a 9-month period, the five most frequent presenting chief complaints for Emergency Department asthma patients aged 2-18 years were identified and accounted for >95% of asthma visits: wheezing, shortness of breath, fever, cough, and dyspnea. During a following 1-month period (November 2004), medical records of all patients with one of the five chief complaints were reviewed to establish a reference standard diagnosis. An asthma identification algorithm was developed that considered only data available in electronic format at the time of triage and included the presenting chief complaint, information from the computerized problem list (past medical history; current medications, such as beta-agonists, steroids, and other asthma medications), and ICD-9 billing codes from previous encounters. RESULTS: From 1835 Emergency Department visits, 368 visits (154 with asthma) had one of the five chief complaints and were included. A problem list was available in 203 (55.2%) and an ICD-9 code in 68 (18.5%) patients. Wheezing accounted for 56.5% of asthma visits, while fever was the most frequent chief complaint among all patients (43.8%). The asthma identification algorithm had a sensitivity of 44.8% (95% CI: 36.8-53.0%), a specificity of 91.6% (CI: 87.0-94.9%), a positive predictive value of 79.3% (CI: 69.3-87.3%) and a negative predictive value of 69.8% (CI: 64.0-75.1%). The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 5.3 (CI: 3.3-8.6) and 0.6 (CI: 0.5-0.7), respectively. CONCLUSION: The simple identification algorithm demonstrated good accuracy for identifying asthma episodes. The algorithm may represent a promising and feasible approach to create computerized reminders or automatic triggers that can facilitate the initiation of guideline-based asthma treatment in the Emergency Department.     

我国7个地理区域哮喘急性发作住院患者季节性分布特征

目的 了解我国7个地理区域内哮喘急性发作住院患者的季节性分布特征。方法 对全国7个地理区域（东北、华北、华中、华东、华南、西北、西南）内的29家三甲医院2013－2014年间因哮喘急性发作住院的患者例数及同期该院呼吸内科总住院患者例数进行统计,逐月计算因哮喘急性发作住院患者占总住院患者的比例。对各个地区之间及每个地区不同月份之间哮喘急性发作患者的住院情况进行了统计学分析。结果 在研究的时间范围内,29家医院的呼吸科总住院患者为206 135例次,其中因哮喘急性发作住院患者为6 480例次,占同期总住院数的3.14%。不同地区间因哮喘急性发作住院人数占同期总住院人数的比例差异较大,东北地区比例最高（5.61%）,华东地区比例最低（1.97%）。不同地区之间哮喘患者住院比例的差异均有统计学意义（P<0.000 1）。多数地区因哮喘急性发作住院患者例数及比例都有两个高峰,分别位于2－4月及9－10月,东北、华东及华南地区的春季高峰更为显著,而华北及西南地区的秋季高峰更为明显,西北地区的高峰则位于冬季（12－1月）及夏季（6－8月）。东北、华北及西南地区各月份之间哮喘急性发作住院情况的差异有统计学意义（P<0.005）。结论 不同地区哮喘急性发作住院患者存在一定的季节波动性,多数地区存在春季及秋季两个高峰。     

Interactions of serum with lung surfactant extract in the bronchiolar and alveolar airway models

Lung surfactant (LS) a lipid-protein mixture is secreted by type-II pneumocytes and prevents alveolar collapse as well as maintains upper airway patency. In certain lung pathophysiology dysfunction of the LS occurs due to leakage of serum derived materials interacting with surfactant at the respiratory air-water interface. Bovine lipid extract surfactant (BLES) with and without foetal calf serum (FCS) were studied as models of bronchiolar airway patency using a capillary surfactometer, and in alveolar (terminal) airway using adsorbed Langmuir films in a surface balance. About 5 wt.% of serum was found to maximally decrease airway patency of BLES by 90%, as well as the surface films ability to reach low surface tension below 25 mN/m. In fact, FCS was found to be about 200-fold more potent inhibitor of the surfactant extract compared to a major serum component, albumin. Also serum but not albumin significantly reduced the gel-phase structures found in BLES films under compression at low amounts (5-10 wt.%), and eventually abolished these organized structures as imaged by fluorescence and atomic force microscopy. This fact suggests that serum caused complete molecular re-organization of the surfactant lipids in films at an air-water interface, and the ability of such films to reduce surface tension or maintain airway patency. The study may provide a novel structure-function disruption model for lung surfactant inactivation in the airways in pathophysiology.     

Exhaled nitric oxide in severe obesity: effect of weight loss

Exhaled nitric oxide (NO) is a recognized biomarker in the lower respiratory tract. The effect of large variation in body mass on exhaled NO in the same individuals is not well known. The aim of the study was to evaluate both the effect of severe obesity and the influence of weight reduction on exhaled NO. A consecutive series of 24 uncomplicated obese patients (OB), who had laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) and 15 healthy controls (HC) were studied. Body mass index (BMI), exhaled NO and respiratory function tests were assessed. Exhaled NO was lower in obese in comparison to HC (12.0+/-3.6ppb versus 15.8+/-4.0ppb, p=0.0035). A significant positive correlation was found between exhaled NO and BMI in HC, which was not evident in OB. Among the respiratory indexes, functional residual capacity was significantly associated to exhaled NO. After 1 year, 12 obese patients undergone to LAGB were re-evaluated. Mean BMI (kg/m(2)) decreased from 44.8 before surgery to 32.3 post-operatively. The exhaled NO increased from 11.8+/-3.2ppb before surgery to 14.9+/-3.1ppb 1 year post-operatively (p=0.0023, n=12). In conclusion exhaled NO is consistently reduced in severe obesity and it is restored after weight reduction. The relationship between exhaled NO, large body mass excess and decrease of resting lung volume in severe obesity deserves further studies.     

Impulse oscillometry: an alternative modality to the conventional pulmonary function test to categorise obstructive pulmonary disorders

Impulse oscillometry (IOS) was introduced as an alternative modality to the conventional pulmonary function test (cPFT) to test lung mechanics. The objective of this study is to assess the use of IOS as an alternative, or in conjunction with cPFT, to categorise an obstructive respiratory disorder as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma. Patients referred to the PFT laboratory, with different diagnoses of obstructive airways disorders, completed a standardised respiratory questionnaire prior to testing. All recruited subjects completed both modalities of PFT. A total of 146 patients were included. The overall mean age was 51±18.4 SD. The majority were non-smokers (68.7%). A standardised diagnosis of asthma was found for 51 subjects, while COPD was diagnosed in 36 subjects and 59 subjects were categorised as normal. The sensitivity of IOS in relation to asthma was 31.3% and 19.6% for cPFT. Among cases of COPD, the cPFT had better sensitivity (47.4%) than IOS (38.95%). The specificity was comparable for IOS and cPFT in relation to asthma and COPD. IOS had better sensitivity (45.8%) in detecting normal subjects than cPFT (28.8%), while specificity was comparable (80.5% and 86.2%, respectively). IOS may replace cPFT where the latter cannot be carried out due to feasibility or lack of cooperation. It can, however, discriminate between diseased and non-diseased subjects.     

Urban background particulate matter and allergic sensitization in adults of ECRHS II

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have shown weak or inconsistent associations between ambient air pollutants and allergic sensitization. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether regional urban air pollution may partly explain the large variation in the prevalence of allergic sensitization across cities of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) II. METHODS: ECRHS is a cross-sectional survey initiated in 29 countries across Europe in the 1990s (ECRHS I) with a follow-up conducted 10 years later (ECRHS II). Subject characteristics were measured by questionnaires and blood tests conducted for the measurement of specific immunoglobulin E. Fine particle mass (PM(2.5), <2.5 microm) and sulphur on PM(2.5) were measured in 21 centres and annual averages of urban regional background air pollution were calculated. Results were scaled by an interquartile range increase in ambient PM(2.5) (6.03 microg/m(3)) and sulphur (1336 ng/m(3)). Generalized estimating equations were applied to compute population average effect estimates with adjustment for age, gender, smoking habit, education and number of siblings. RESULTS: A notable variation in pollution level and prevalence of allergic sensitization was observed. Moreover, exposure to urban regional background air pollution was not associated with allergic sensitization; adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence interval were 1.02 (0.95-1.09) for PM(2.5) and 1.08 (0.86-1.31) for sulphur. These statistically non-significant associations were sensitive to model specification. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that regional air pollution measured at fixed sites is not associated with allergic sensitization among adults in ECRHS II.