Study of hydrogen peroxide in breath as inflammatory marker in asthmatic children

Asthma is a major global public health problem. Airway inflammation is the primary cause of development and progression of asthma. Activation of inflammatory cells induces a respiratory burst resulting in the production of reactive oxygen species, such as H[2]O[2]. We sought to measure the concentration of H[2]O[2] in exhaled breath condensate in asthmatics children and its correlation to asthmatic triggers, pulmonary function tests, treatment modalities and blood absolute white blood cell counts. Fifty asthmatic and 35 healthy children were studied. Their ages ranged from 9-14 years. Exhaled H[2]O[2] was measured using a colorimetric assay. In asthmatic children, there was a significant elevation of the mean H[2]O[2] concentration compared to values in normal subjects [P<0.0001]. Bad housing showed significant correlation to asthma severity and to number of acute asthmatic attacks. Basal spirometric pulmonary function tests, mean values showed no significant correlation to the level of H[2]O[2] nor to treatment with inhaled steroids. Similarly, neither asthma severity nor the intake of inhaled steroids did show any significant correlation with H[2]O[2] level. Exhaled H[2]O[2] was found significantly elevated in asthmatic children. Measurement of exhaled H[2]O[2] may h4 to assess airway inflammation and oxidative stress in asthmatic patients

Study of some cytokines in active and inactive tuberculosis

This study included 10 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis, 10 patients with inactive disease and 20 healthy individuals as controls. T cell proliferation assay with PPD antigen showed higher stimulation index [SI] in the inactive compared with the active tuberculous patients [9.53 +/- 2.75 vs. 4.61 +/- 1.67, respectively] reflecting the good status of the immune system towards mycobacterial antigen. Gamma interferon [IFN] level [pg/ml] was significantly higher in the inactive than the active tuberculous patients and controls [210.24 +/- 58.57, 79.20 +/- 21.79 and 32.89 +/- 33.58, respectively]. Similar results were shown for IL-2, where its level [pg/ml] in the inactive patients was significantly higher than the active tuberculous patients [234.92 +/- 51.47 vs. 99.26 +/- 19.20, respectively]. On the other hand, IL-10 was significantly higher in the active than the inactive patients [435.23 +/- 78.22 vs. 235.98 +/- 50.74 pg/ml, respectively] indicating a dominant Th2 type response during the course of TB infection. Tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF- alpha] was significantly higher in the active than the inactive tuberculous patients [402.46 +/- 57.44 vs. 188.64 +/- 59.82 pg/ml, respectively]. The tuberculostatic effects of INF-alpha and TNF-alpha in the active stage of the disease were discussed