Chest
-
Oxygen therapy is an integral part of the treatment of critically ill patients. Maintenance of adequate oxygen delivery to vital organs often requires the administration of supplemental oxygen, sometimes at high concentrations. Although oxygen therapy is lifesaving, it may be associated with deleterious effects when administered for prolonged periods at high concentrations. Here, we review the recent advances in our understanding of the molecular responses to hypoxia and high levels of oxygen and review the current guidelines for oxygen therapy in critically ill patients.
-
The pathogenesis of chronic lung disorders is poorly understood but is often thought to arise because of repeated injuries derived from exposure to exogenous or endogenous stress factors. Protein-misfolding events have been observed in a variety of genetic and nongenetic chronic lung disorders and may contribute to both the initiation and the progression of lung disease through endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR). ⋯ Although the UPR is thought to be a molecular mechanism involved in the repair and restoration of protein homeostasis or "proteostasis," prolonged activation of the UPR may lead to compromised cellular functions, cellular transformation, or cell death. Here, we review literature that associates protein-misfolding events with ER stress and UPR activation and discuss how this basic molecular repair mechanism may contribute to the initiation and progression of various genetic and nongenetic chronic lung diseases.
-
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a strong and independent risk factor for the development of hypertension, particularly resistant hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Patients with resistant hypertension have a high prevalence of OSA in association with elevated aldosterone levels, high salt intake, and salt-sensitive BP. The objective of this study was to determine whether dietary salt and aldosterone are associated with severity of OSA in patients with resistant hypertension. ⋯ The findings suggest that dietary salt is related to the severity of OSA in patients with resistant hypertension and hyperaldosteronism. The results support dietary salt restriction as a treatment strategy for reduction of OSA severity in these patients.
-
Comparative Study
Systemic inflammatory pattern of patients with community-acquired pneumonia with and without COPD.
Several clinical studies have evaluated the role of COPD in patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP). We investigated the systemic inflammatory response of patients with CAP (CAP 1 COPD) and patients without associated COPD (CAP only). ⋯ Our prospective study demonstrates a different, disease-specific, early inflammatory pattern between patients with CAP with and without associated COPD. These findings are not completely corticosteroid mediated.