American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Sep 2011
Prompting physicians to address a daily checklist and process of care and clinical outcomes: a single-site study.
Checklists may reduce errors of omission for critically ill patients. ⋯ In this single-site, preliminary study, checklist-based prompting improved multiple processes of care, and may have improved mortality and length of stay, compared with a stand-alone checklist. The manner in which checklists are implemented is of great consequence in the care of critically ill patients.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Sep 2011
CD34 is required for dendritic cell trafficking and pathology in murine hypersensitivity pneumonitis.
Although recent work has shown that CD34 plays an important role in the trafficking of inflammatory cells during Th2-biased inflammatory responses, its role in Th1/Th17-biased disease as well as dendritic cell (DC) trafficking is unknown. ⋯ We conclude that CD34 is expressed by mucosal DCs and plays an important role in their trafficking through the lung and to the lymph nodes. Our data also suggest that CD34 may play a selective role in the efficient migration of these cells to a subset of chemokines.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Sep 2011
Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: identification of biologic clusters and their biomarkers.
Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are heterogeneous with respect to inflammation and etiology. ⋯ The heterogeneity of the biologic response of COPD exacerbations can be defined. Sputum IL-1β, serum CXCL10, and peripheral eosinophils are biomarkers of bacteria-, virus-, or eosinophil-associated exacerbations of COPD. Whether phenotype-specific biomarkers can be applied to direct therapy warrants further investigation.
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Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a deadly progressive disease with few treatment options. Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is a multifunctional protein, but its function in pulmonary fibrosis is unknown. ⋯ TG2 is involved in pulmonary fibrosis in a mouse model and in human disease and is important in normal fibroblast function. With continued research on TG2, it may offer a new therapeutic target.