Articles: function.
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Critical care medicine · Aug 2014
Observational StudyMannose-Binding Lectin Is Expressed After Clinical and Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury and Its Deletion Is Protective.
Mannose-binding lectin protein is the activator of the lectin complement pathway. Goals were (1) to investigate mannose-binding lectin expression after human and experimental traumatic brain injury induced by controlled cortical impact and (2) to evaluate whether mannose-binding lectin deletion is associated with reduced sequelae after controlled cortical impact. ⋯ Mannose-binding lectin expression was documented after traumatic brain injury. The reduced sequelae associated with mannose-binding lectin absence suggest that mannose-binding lectin modulation might be a potential target after traumatic brain injury.
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A 30-year-old man developed unexplained rhabdomyolysis, persistently increased creatine kinase and severe debilitating muscle cramps. After a nondiagnostic neurologic evaluation, he was referred for a muscle biopsy, to include histology/histochemistry, a myoglobinuria panel, and a caffeine halothane contracture test. ⋯ His identical twin brother, who was suffering from similar complaints, was found to share the same mutation. They each require oral dantrolene therapy to control symptoms, despite difficulty in identifying health care providers familiar with treating this disorder.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Jul 2014
Untargeted Lipidomic Analysis in COPD: Uncovering Sphingolipids.
Cigarette smoke is the major risk factor in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Lipidomics is a novel and emerging research field that may provide new insights in the origins of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as COPD. ⋯ Expression of lipids from the sphingolipid pathway is higher in smokers with COPD compared with smokers without COPD. Considering their potential biologic properties, they may play a role in the pathogenesis of COPD.
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FEV1, measured using spirometry, provides a straightforward, widely available, and inexpensive global measurement of airflow limitation and lung function. For decades, FEV1 has remained the main intermediate endpoint used in research studies and for the development of new chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) therapies. Not surprisingly, treatments that acutely improve FEV1 dominate as COPD therapies. ⋯ In individual patients and in COPD cohort studies, thoracic imaging using X-ray computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging (conventional (1)H as well as hyperpolarized noble gases such as (129)Xe, (3)He, and inhaled O2 and (19)F) can be used to directly visualize the structural and functional consequences of COPD and thus provide a clearer picture of COPD mechanisms, disease progression, and response to therapy. We briefly describe pulmonary imaging methods that provide a way to visualize and quantify, with high spatial and temporal resolution, regional ventilation abnormalities, gas trapping, emphysema, and airway remodeling in COPD. Finally, we discuss the implications of recent imaging findings and their impact on future biomarker and therapy research aimed at improving COPD outcomes.