Establishment of a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mouse model based on the elapsed time after LPS intranasal instillation / 한국실험동물학회지

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the 3rd leading cause of death in 2012 worldwide. It is particularly severe in the elderly, who are at risk of death by coughing, mucous hypersecretion, and finally breathlessness. Recently, anti-COPD drug development has increased, and many animal screening systems have been studied. Tobacco smoke animal models are the best known animal screening system, but have several preparation requirements, such as a tobacco smoke generator and a separate facility to prevent smoke release. Accordingly, we evaluated the properties of a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) murine model for COPD screening and the effect of the time elapsed from 0 to 72 hr after LPS intranasal instillation on various biomarkers of COPD severity, such as WBC and neutrophils in bronchoalveolar fluid (BALF), IgE in serum, histopathology in the lung, and cytokines (IL-8, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and TGF-β) and chemokines (CCL-2, CXCL1, CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11) in the respiratory system. Although from 48 hr after LPS treatment several factors which could be evaluated as biomarkers for COPD establishment such as WBC and neutrophil in BALF, IgE in serum, cytokines (IL-8, TNF-α, and IFN-γ), and chemokines (CCL-2, CXCL1, CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11) increased at 72 hr the increment of important factors for COPD establishment such as IgE, fibrosis in the lung, and cytokines (IL-8, TNF-α, and IFN-γ) was more clear. Based on our results, we concluded that the optimal time after LPS intranasal instillation is 72 hr.

Relapse of Cutaneous Fungal Infection in Healthy Individuals - A Rising Concern.

Background: Superficial fungal infections are among the most common skin diseases, affecting millions of people throughout the world. These infections, which occur in both healthy and immunocompromised persons, are caused by dermatophytes, yeasts and nondermatophyte molds. Effective treatment can reduce the duration of symptoms in patients with superficial fungal infections. Unfortunately, there is a strong tendency for fungal infections to recur in many people even after effective clearing with medication. Aims and Objectives: To study the relapse of cutaneous fungal infection in healthy people. Materials and Methods: 160 patients with a history of relapse of fungal infections who came to the out-patient department of this tertiary care hospital within 6 months period were studied in detail regarding patient characteristics, demographic details and line of management. Results: Relapse of cutaneous fungal infection occurs most commonly in adults greater than 30 years (75%). There was a definite family history of fungal infections (15.6%) in patients coming with history of relapse. Tinea cruris (34.38%) was the most common site to come with history of relapse followed by onychomycosis (15.6%). Relapse occurred in 38.75% of the cases treated with terbinafine as this was the most common drug used. Conclusion: Regardless of the drug taken there were cases of relapse in cases of cutaneous fungal infection even in healthy individuals.