ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the effect of short-term intensive rehabilitation training on respiratory function, motor function and the life quality of patients with obstructive sleep apnea combined with chronic obstruc-tive pulmonary disease ( OSA-COPD) . Methods Fifty-seven patients with OSA-COPD were randomly divided in-to an observation group and a control group. Both groups were treated with non-invasive positive pressure ventilation ( NPPV) , oxygen therapy and a bronchodilator, while the observation group was additionally provided with 8 weeks of intensive lung rehabilitation training, including respiratory function training and limb exercise training. Polysom-nography was used to monitor the apnea hyponea index ( AHI) , the lowest oxygen saturation level during the night ( LowSpO2 ) and the nocturnal oxygen saturation ratio for ＜ 90% of total sleep time ( tst90) . Arterial blood gases, forced vital capacity ( FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second ( FEV1 ) were measured. The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and St. George's respiratory questionnaire ( SGRQ) were used to evaluate all the patients before and after the intervention. Results After 8 weeks of treatment, the average AHI, LowSpO2 , TST90 and PaO2 had improved significantly in both groups. There was no significant difference between them. After the treatment the average FVC, FEV1 and 6MWT time of the observation group were significantly better than before the treatment and the significantly better than the control group's averages. After treatment, the average SGRQ score and activity abili-ty score of the observation group were also significantly improved and significantly better than the control group's av-erages. Conclusions NPPV can effectively improve OSA-COPD patients'tolerance of short-term intensive pulmo-nary rehabilitation training. With that assistance, short-term intensive rehabilitation training can promote the recov-ery of respiratory function and motor function, and improve the life quality of patients. Therefore, such therapy is worthy of clinical promotion and application.
ABSTRACT
Objective To study the correlation between immune imbalance mediated by Th 17 and Treg cells and impaired lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ) . Methods Ninety-five patients with moderate or severe COPD , thirty-five smokers with normal lung function and thirty-one healthy non-smokers from Yinzhou People′s Hospital from January 2009 to December 2012 were recruited in this study .The percentages of circulating Th 17 and Treg cells in peripheral blood samples were determined by flow cytometry .The concentrations of cytokines in serum samples and supernatants of in-duced sputum samples were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The expression of ROR-γt and Foxp3 at mRNA level in peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( PBMC) were determined by quan-titative real-time PCR.The potential association between ratios of Th 17/Treg cells and lung function was evaluated.Results Compared with smokers and healthy subjects , patients with moderate or severe COPD showed high levels of Th17 cells, IL-17A, IL-6 and IL-23, and an up-regulated expression of ROR-γt at transcriptional level .However, the percentage of Treg cells , IL-10 level and the expression of Foxp 3 at mRNA level were down-regulated in patients with COPD .The levels of cytokines in supernatants of induced sputum samples varied in the same way as that of Th 17/Treg in peripheral blood samples .The ratio of Th17 to Treg cells was negatively correlated with the values of forced vital capacity ( FVC) , forced expiratory vol-ume in one second (FEV1), and FEV1/FVC.Conclusion Th17/Treg cells imbalance was closely associ-ated with the deterioration of pulmonary function in patients with moderate or severe COPD .Th17/Treg cells imbalance might be involved in the progression of COPD .