[Eosinophilic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A review].

Over the past decades, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become a major public health problem due to increasing morbidity and mortality. COPD is characterized by airflow limitation due to inflammation of the bronchial tree and remodeling of the small airways. In 20-40% of patients with COPD, eosinophilic inflammation of the airways is observed, as in bronchial asthma. Eosinophilic COPD has recently been shown to be a distinct disease and is associated with more pronounced airway remodeling. Although the role of eosinophils in the pathogenesis of COPD is not fully understood, the level of eosinophils can be used in the prognosis and administration of corticosteroids, and their effectiveness is higher in eosinophilia. Currently, monoclonal antibodies directed against interleukins (IL-5, IL-4 and IL-13) or their receptors are being tested in the T2 endotype of COPD. This review focuses on the mechanisms of eosinophilia in COPD, the use of blood and sputum eosinophils as a biomarker, and the advisability of using monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of eosinophilic COPD.

[Drug-induced interstitial lung disease: approaches to diagnostics and treatment].

Drug-induced interstitial lung disease (D-ILD) can be caused by various drugs, including antibiotics, amiodarone, antitumor, rheumatological and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. D-ILD includes hypersensitivity reactions, organizing and non-specific interstitial pneumonia, eosinophilic lung diseases, diffuse alveolar damage and alveolar hypoventilation. To exclude other causes of pulmonary diseases, an assessment of the medical history, physical data and examination results, which may include chest X-ray/multispiral computed tomography (MSCT), lung function tests, and bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage, are necessary. Diagnosis of D-ILD is difficult due to the heterogeneity of clinical, radiological and histological data. The X-ray pathological phenotype of D-ILD is different; a specific MSCT pattern has not been identified. Treatment includes drug withdrawal and, in some cases, glucocorticoid therapy, although there are no prospective studies on their effect on the outcome of the disease. This article provides various drugs that cause ILD, approaches to their diagnosis and treatment.

Use of polyurethane foam and 3-hydroxy-7,8-benzo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline for determination of nitrite by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and colorimetry.

Polyurethane foam (PUF) has been suggested as a solid polymeric reagent for determination of nitrite. The determination is based on the diazotization of end toluidine groups of PUF with nitrite in acidic medium followed by coupling of polymeric diazonium cation with 3-hydroxy-7,8-benzo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline. The intensely colored polymeric azodye formed in this reaction can be used as a convenient analytic form for the determination of nitrite by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (c (min) = 0.7 ng mL(-1)). The possibility of using a desktop scanner, digital camera, and computer data processing for the numerical evaluation of the color intensity of the polymeric azodye has been investigated. A scanner and digital camera can be used for determination of nitrite with the same sensitivity and reproducibility as with diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The approach developed was applied for determination of nitrite in river water and human exhaled breath condensate.