Journal of thoracic disease
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Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are serious clinical disease entities characterized by inflammatory pulmonary edema, which lead to acute hypoxic respiratory failure through various etiologies. According to the studies to date, ALI/ARDS has been recognized as a form of multiorgan failure related to overactive immune response, and overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines released from activated inflammatory cells are considered to play a key role in the development of ALI. Glycyrrhizin (GL) is an extractive component derived from Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice), which has recently been reported to have various pharmacological effects like anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, hepato-protective, and anti-viral activities. Nevertheless, the therapeutic effect of GL in ALI is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate therapeutic effects of GL on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI in a mouse model and to elucidate explicable mechanisms involved. ⋯ The results of this study indicate that GL may have anti-inflammatory and protective effects on LPS-induced ALI in mice. GL inhibited proinflammatory cytokines playing a key role in the initial phase of inflammatory response, which suggests that inhibition of the TLR-4/NF-κB signal pathway would be a possible mechanism underlying the action of GL. Thus, GL can be used as a novel therapeutic strategy for pulmonary inflammation.
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Vitamin C has shown several beneficial effects on sepsis in preclinical studies. However, clinical data supporting these reports are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate whether adjunctive intravenous vitamin C therapy could reduce hospital mortality in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock requiring mechanical ventilation. ⋯ Adjunctive intravenous vitamin C therapy alone did not reduce hospital mortality in mechanically ventilated patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.
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Pulmonary nodules (PNs) are increasingly detected by thoracic computed tomography (CT). Traditional diagnostic modalities have their drawbacks. Electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) is gaining popularity in diagnosing small PNs. This study describes the diagnostic yield and complication rate of ENB in diagnosing PNs in which other diagnostic methods are considered to have low yield. ⋯ For PNs not accessible by conventional FB/R-EBUS, ENB provides good diagnostic yield with low complication rate. It is a useful armamentarium to respiratory physicians and thoracic surgeons.