Study of Interleukin-16 in Bronchoalveolar lavage of Smokers with and without chronic bronchitis

The study included 30 subjects [10 case of healthy smokers with no chest symptoms, 10 cases of smokers with chronic bronchitis and ten healthy non smokers as control group]. The result of this study showed highly significant statistical increase in the level of IL- 16 in BAL and serum of smokers with or without chronic bronchitis compared to control group [P < 0.001, P < 0.0001 respectively] but no significant statistical difference in its level in BAL and serum of smokers with and without chronic bronchitis [P < 0.05, P > 0.05 respectively]. Also, there was no significant correlation between serum and BAL IL- 16 level in non smokers and smokers without chronic bronchitis [P< 0.05] but there was a significant correlation between them in smokers with chronic bronchitis [P< 0.05]. We concluded that, BAL and serum IL- 16 levels are significantly higher in smokers, [even if they are asymptomatic] than in non smokers, this fact must make us to focus on the danger of smoking in the community

Validity and safety of sputum induction by HS and UTP in asthma patients

In this study, sputum induction was done on 10 healthy subjects and 24 asthma patients. Sputum induced by inhalation of either hypertonic saline [HS] or uridine 5-triphosphate [UTP] was induced in all the studied subjects. Inhaled UTP produced a larger amount of sputum than HS. There were significant differences in oxygen desaturation during the procedure between the two methods and no significant difference in spirometric measurements during the procedure by both methods. Sputum total cell and differential cell counts with a high proportion of eosinophils in asthmatics were similar between specimens obtained by HS and UTP. Therefore, sputum induction either by HS or UTP is noninvasive, relatively safe, reproducible and repeatable measurement. Patients with asthma have a higher proportion of eosinophils in their induced sputum with a significant negative correlation to FEV1% pred. The analysis of induced sputum has a relevant role in the identification and monitoring of airway inflammation

Study of some antioxidants in cases of bronchial asthma

The aim of this study was to explore some of the local antioxidant defenses in patients with asthma focusing on superoxide dismutase [SOD], glutathione [GSH] and selenium. Two groups of subjects were included in this study: Group I included 20 asthmatic patients and group II included 10 normal control subjects. Glutathione [GSH], superoxide dismutase [SOD] and selenium were estimated in bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL] of all subjects. The results showed that there was a significant increase in the level of BAL glutathione among asthmatic group as compared with the control group. Also, the study showed a significant decrease in the level of BAL selenium among the asthmatic group as compared with the control group. Also, there was a significant decrease in the level of BAL superoxide dismutase among the asthmatic group when compared with the control group

Renal and pulmonary functional changes in patients with silicosis

The objective of this study was to investigate the early renal and pulmonary functional changes among workers exposed to silica dust. The study was performed on the following three groups of subjects: Group I consisted of 15 healthy subjects as a control group, group II consisted of 15 workers exposed to silica dust without a manifestation suggestive of silicosis [chronic cough and expectoration, dyspnea, fatigability, normal spirometric data and normal chest radiographic appearance] and group III consisted of 15 workers exposed to silica dust with manifestations suggestive of silicosis, clinical [chronic cough and expectoration, dyspnea and fatigability], physiological [abnormal spirometric data] and chest radiographic appearance. The study concluded that patients suffering from silicosis showed significant changes in the renal functions together with mild combined obstructive and restrictive ventilatory defect compared with the healthy silica exposed workers and the healthy nonexposed ones. It was recommended that kidney function tests should be routinely done, especially those which detect the early dysfunction as B2-microglobulins, even if chest X-ray and simple pulmonary functions were normal

Bronchial angiogenesis in bronchial asthma patients

An immunohistochemical study on bronchial biopsies taken from ten patients with severe asthma, ten patients with mild asthma and ten healthy normal control subjects was done using monoclonal antibodies identifying the vessel marker [EN-4], intercellular adhesion molecule [ICAM-1], vascular cell adhesion molecule [VCAM-I], E- and P-selectin. Bronchial biopsies from patients with severe asthma showed an increased number of subepithelial vessels, an increased size of vessels and an increased percentage of area covered with vessels as compared with mild asthma and control subjects which was correlated with airflow limitation [decreased FEV1% pred]. An increased number of vessels expressing ICAM-1 and a decreased number of vessels expressing E-selectin which was highly correlated to airflow limitation [decreased FEV1% pred, decreased PEFR% pred and FEV75% pred] were observed. No difference was found between the three groups in the expression of VCAM-1 and P-selectin