Is the symptomatic improvement after lung volume reduction surgery correlated with FEV1 in patients with diffuse emphysema?
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Y Ouchi.
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A 92-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital due to hypertension, nausea, pain in the anterior part of the chest, epigastralgia, and tachypnea. During the initial examination of the patient in the emergency ward, she was very excited, howled, and both her hands were numb. Arterial blood gas analysis revealed a marked alkalemia (pH greater than 7.55) and hypocapnia (Pco2 24.1 mmHg). After paper bag re-breathing, the pH and Pco2 were within normal limits. Because there was no lesion in the lungs or the brain that would account for hyperventilation and convulsions, the attack was considered to be a manifestation of hyperventilation syndrome should be carefully considered in the differential diagnosis of disturbance of consciousness even in elderly patients.
A 65-year-old man was admitted to our department due to severe dysphagia, dysarthria, and aspiration pneumonia. Dysphagia and dysarthria were caused by lateral medullary infarction (Wallenberg' s syndrome). After the patient recovered from pneumonia, the abnormality of swallowing was assessed by a swallowing provocation test and videofluorography. Two months after the start of swallowing training, a swallowing provocation test showed that the swallowing reflex had improved and videofluorography showed that the magnitude of aspiration to the trachea had decreased. The patient began taking food by mouth. These tests are useful for quantitative assessment of dysphagia and for deciding when to start oral intake in elderly patients.
Rhabdomyolysis is not common in the elderly. Two elderly patients with rhabdomyolysis and respiratory infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae. The first patient was a 71-year-old woman with bronchiectasis who admitted to our hospital due to pneumonia. The second patient was an 84-year-old man who was admitted because of appetite loss, fever, and a cough producing of yellowish sputum. In both patients, sputum cultures were positive for S. pneumoniae, but blood cultures were not. The serum creatine kinase levels peaked on the day of admission at levels ten to thirty times higher than fold above the upper limit of normal; the serum lactate dehydrogenase levels were 1.5 times higher than the upper limit of normal. The creatine kinase levels returned to normal 5 to 7 days after admission, treated with antibiotics and recovered from pneumonia. The cases of these two patients, along with those described in previous reports of rhabdomyolysis associated with pneumococcal pneumonia indicate that measuring the serum creatine kinase level is important in detecting rhabdomyolysis, especially in elderly patients with respiratory infection caused by S. pneumoniae, and detection may help to prevent renal failure.
A randomized prospective study was done to evaluate the two treatments for pressure sores infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in elderly patients: Gentian violet plus dibutyryl cAMP (GVcAMP, n = 8) and povidone-iodine plus sugar (IS, n = 11). Age, underlying diseases, and nutritional status did not differ between the two groups. Specimens were obtained biweekly from the pressure sores and were cultured. The percentage of culture dishes with no methicillin-resistant S. aureus was 93% for the patients given GVcAMP, but only 74% for those given IS (p < 0.01). By the 14th week after the start of treatment, the mean area of the pressure sores in the GVcAMP group had decreased to 45% of the area at the start of treatment. In the IS group, the decrease was smaller to 56% of the area before treatment. No local or systemic adverse effects occurred in either group. GVcAMP is useful to treat pressure sores infected with methicillin-resistant S. aureus.
Pulmonary rehabilitation has been reported to be effective in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To investigate the effect of a moderate period of pulmonary rehabilitation combined with inspiratory muscle training (IMT) in elderly patients with COPD, we instituted pulmonary rehabilitation for 60 weeks in five elderly patients (age: 65.4 +/- 3.7 SE years). IMT was performed for 15 min twice daily using a pressure threshold device. The inspiratory threshold was set at 15% of the maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax) of each individual. Maximal peak flow significantly increased from 3.0 +/- 0.6 (L/s) at baseline to 4.1 +/- 0.7 (L/s) after 12 weeks (p < 0.02) and was maintained at that level for 60 weeks. PImax increased significantly from 49.9 +/- 6.4 cmH2O at baseline to 67.3 +/- 3.0 cmH2O after 12 weeks (p < 0.05) and to 72.8 +/- 3.5 cmH2O (p < 0.02) after 60 weeks of rehabilitation. The 10-minute walking distance increased from 666.6 +/- 55.0 to 764.0 +/- 49.9 m (p < 0.05) after 12 weeks and was maintained at the same level. We conclude that pulmonary rehabilitation combined with IMT improves pulmonary function and inspiratory muscle strength in elderly patients with COPD between for 12 weeks after commencement, but occurs that no significant increase on lung function or 10-minute walking distance from 12 to 60 weeks. Respiratory muscle strength may further increase after 60 weeks.
It has been suggested that pulmonary rehabilitation compined with inspiratory muscle training (IMT) might improve pulmonary function and respiratory muscle strength in elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To test this hypothesis, inspiratory muscle strength (PImax), expiratory muscle strength (PEmax) and resting pulmonary function were measured in 13 elderly patients with COPD (aged 70.3 +/- 2.7 years). Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) was performed for 15 min twice a day, using a pressure threshold device, for a total of 12 weeks. The inspiratory threshold was set at 15% of maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax) for each individual. Pulmonary rehabilitation was performed for 12-h sessions over a 12-week period. Patients with COPD were assigned randomly to two groups: pulmonary rehabilitation combined with IMT (group A) (n = 7), and conventional pulmonary rehabilitation only (group B) (n = 6). Functional residual capacity (FRC) decreased significantly from 4.3 +/- 0.4 L at baseline to 3.9 +/- 0.4 L after rehabilitation (p < 0.01), Vp significantly increased from 4.6 +/- 0.8 L/sec at baseline to 5.1 +/- 0.7 L/sec after rehabilitation (p < 0.05) and the PImax increased significantly from 51.5 +/- 5.4 cmH2O at baseline to 80.9 +/- 7.0 cmH2O after rehabilitation (p < 0.02) in group A. However, these variables did not change in group B. There was no improvement in the 10-minutes walking distance of group A, but there was a significant increase in that of group B. It can be concluded that pulmonary rehabilitation combined with IMT improves pulmonary function and inspiratory muscle strength in elderly patients with COPD.
The effects of somatosensory stimulation on the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) response were studied in unanesthetized monkeys before and after treatment with scopolamine and three cognitive enhancers (physostigmine, E2020 and tacrine) that inhibit cholinesterase, using 15O-labeled water and high-resolution positron emission tomography. Under control conditions, somatosensory stimulation induced a significant increase in the rCBF response in the contralateral somatosensory cortex of monkey brain. Intravenous administration of scopolamine (50 microg/kg) resulted in abolishment of the rCBF response to stimulation. The rCBF response abolished by pretreatment with scopolamine was recovered by administration of physostigmine (1 or 10 microg/kg), E2020 (10 or 100 microg/kg) or tacrine (100 or 1000 microg/kg), in a dose-dependent manner. The effect of E2020 (100 microg/kg) on the rCBF response lasted for >4 hr, whereas the effects of physostigmine and tacrine were of shorter duration. These findings suggest that these compounds reversed the scopolamine-abolished rCBF response to somatosensory stimulation via enhancement of cholinergic neurotransmission, which was mainly induced by cholinesterase inhibition.
Transfer of genes via DNA virus vectors to human airway epithelial cells is not fully understood. We tested the effects of multiplicities of infection (moi) and incubation time on the efficiency of gene transfer by adenovirus vectors and AAV vectors in cultures of human airway epithelial cells. The cells were exposed to Ad-CMV-lacZ or AAV-CMV-LacZ for 1 to 48 hours at different moi from 0.1 to 100. Efficiency of transduction was assessed as the percentage of cells that expressed LacZ, and was measured by using X-gal staining. A dose-dependent relationship was found between vector moi and the percentage of cells that expressed LacZ. For both vectors, gene expression was greater when incubation time was longer (up to 12 hours), which suggests that the uptake of vectors into the cells is not selective. Efficiency of transduction did not differ between adenovirus and AAV vectors at the same moi. These results suggest that (1) gene transfer via DNA virus vectors increases in a moi-dependent fashion, and that (2) gene expression of the DNA virus vector may be increased by prolonged exposure of the vector to human airway epithelial cells.
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The mechanism underlying the relief of the sensation of dyspnea during exercise following the inhalation of anticholinergic drug in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been fully elucidated. We examined pulmonary function, static respiratory pressure, and dyspneic sensations during exercise before and after the inhalation of oxitropium bromide (OTB) in 14 male patients with COPD. FEV1 and FVC were increased after the inhalation of OTB, whereas RV and the ratio of RV to TLC were decreased after inhalation. Maximum inspiratory pressure (PImax) was significantly increased after the administration of OTB. Dyspneic sensation during exercise, measured as a Borg scale slope (BSS, delta BS/ delta Vo2) were reduced after the inhalation of OTB. There were significant correlations among BSS, PImax and RV/TLC. These results suggest that a reduction in air trapping after the inhalation of OTB may enhance the ability of the to diaphragm generate pressure at a given neural input, resulting in a reduced sensation of dyspnea during exercise in patients with COPD.
Endothelin (ET) 1, a 21 amino acid constrictor peptide, is one of the most potent agonists of airway smooth muscle and acts on two different receptors, i.e., ETA and ETB receptors. Recently, it has been shown that there are species and organ differences in physiological roles of each ET receptor. In rats, however, the physiological roles of ET receptors remain to be clarified. We questioned whether ET-1 might affect airway and lung tissue via different ET receptor subtypes in rats. To answer this question, we investigated the effects of ET-1 on lung behaviour in anesthetized, open-chested, mechanically ventilated (f = 1 Hz, VT = 9 mL/kg, PEEP = 3 cmH2O (1 cmH2O = 98.1 Pa)) rats in the absence or the presence of ETA and ETB selective antagonists, i.e., BQ-123 and BQ-788, respectively. Using alveolar capsules, we calculated lung elastance (EL), resistance of lung (RL), tissue (Rti), and airway (Raw), and hysteresivity (eta = 2 pifRti/EL) under control conditions and after intravenous administration of ET-1 (10(-8) mol/kg). ET-1 induced significant increases in RL, Rti, Raw, EL, and eta. BQ-123 did not affect ET-1 induced constriction, while BQ-788 significantly reduced delta RL, delta Rti, delta Raw, delta EL during ET-1 induced constriction. The effects of the combination of BQ-123 and BQ-788 were not different compared with BQ-788. Eta was not affected by BQ-123 and BQ-788. These data suggest that ETB, but not ETA, receptors may have significant physiological roles in rat lungs in response to ET-1.
We evaluated 240 consecutive subjects (aged 20-91) without cardiopulmonary, endocrine or, neuromuscular disease consecutively regarding pulmonary function (TLC, VC, FEV1, RV) and static maximal inspiratory (PImax) and expiratory (PEmax) pressures. PImax and PEmax declined with advancing age. PImax correlated with grip strength, VC, FEV1, height, weight, and RV/TLC. PEmax also correlated with grip strength, TLC, VC, FEV1, height, and weight. Age, height, weight, and grip strength were entered stepwise into multiple linear regression models with PImax or PEmax as the dependent variable. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that grip strength was an independent predictor for both PImax and PEmax. However, age itself was not an independent predictor for PImax or PEmax. These results suggest that static maximal respiratory pressures decrease with aging, and that age-dependent changes in respiratory muscle function may depend on other factors, including lung volume, skeletal muscle status, and body composition.
We tested the effects of a DNA topoisomerase inhibitor (camptothecin; CPT) on the transduction efficiency of AAV vectors in cultured human airway epithelial cells. The cells were treated with CPT for 24 hours, then exposed to AAV-CMV-LacZ for 1 hour at different multiplicities of infection (moi). Transduction efficiency of AAV vectors was assessed using X-gal staining as the percentage of LacZ-expressing cells. The transduction efficiency was approximately 1.5 to 10 fold increased by treatment with CPT prior to AAV vector exposure. However, treatment with CPT after AAV vector infection did not enhance the transduction efficiency of the vectors. These results suggest that pre-treatment with CPT increases the transduction efficiency of AAV vectors, probably by nodulating cellular function.
THE neural mechanisms of micturition in man were studied using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The areas activated during micturition, relative to the resting state, were the upper pons, the left sensorimotor cortex, the right frontal cortex and the bilateral supplementary motor areas. Some of these regions have been established by clinical and experimental studies as the neural control centre for voiding. We confirmed the neural micturition centre in healthy men using SPECT for the first time.
An increase in fibroblasts and associated connective tissue is a feature of pulmonary fibrosis. Activin A belongs to the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) supergene family and is known to have important roles in the induction of mesoderm and differentiation processes during development in early embryogenesis. It also modifies the growth and differentiation of various target cells. In this study we determined whether activin A could modulate human lung fibroblast (HFL1) activity, particularly with respect to proliferation and its differentiation into myofibroblast. A maximal effect on cell proliferation was observed at a low concentration of activin A (10(-11) M), and the effect of activin A was abolished by follistatin, an activin-binding protein. Activin A stimulated differentiation of HFL1 into myofibroblast in a dose-dependent manner. Thus activin A has potential effects on proliferation of lung fibroblast and its differentiation into myofibroblast, and may contribute to structural remodeling observed in pulmonary fibrosis.
In order to clarify the mechanism underlying the preventive effect of estrogen on atherogenesis, we investigated the role of estrogen in the regulation of endothelin-1 (ET-1) production and c-fos mRNA expression, which may contribute to atherogenesis. Plasma ET-1 concentration in ovariectomized rats (OVX) was twice as high as that in sham-operated female rats (Sham). Estradiol replacement in OVX rats (OVX + E) decreased plasma ET-1 to the level in Sham (Sham, 0.68 +/- 0.14; OVX, 1.32 +/- 0.14; OVX + E, 0.85 +/- 0.12 pg/ml). Metabolic clearance rate of ET-1 was similar in these three groups of rats, suggesting that the difference in plasma ET-1 was due to production rather than degradation. Measurement of immunoreactive ET-1 in tissue extract and immunohistochemical examination showed that expression of ET-1 in the aortic smooth muscle cells of OVX was increased. The expression of c-fos mRNA in the aorta was also increased in OVX compared with Sham and OVX + E. Intravenous infusion of ET-1 to Sham induced c-fos expression in the aorta, suggesting the contribution of ET-1 to c-fos expression. Tissue culture study revealed that DNA synthesis was increased in the aorta and femoral artery of OVX. These results suggest that inhibition of ET-1 and c-fos expression is involved in the anti-atherogenic action of estrogen.