68 research outputs found
Moving stem cell therapy to patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
See article, page 101
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Systemic Sclerosis Associated Interstitial Lung Disease: New Directions in Disease Management
Pulmonary complications of inflammatory myopathy
Pulmonary complications cause significant morbidity and mortality in the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. Advances in biomarker discovery have facilitated clinical phenotyping, allowing investigators to better define at-risk patient subsets and to potentially gauge disease activity. This serologic characterization has complemented more traditional assessment tools. Pharmacologic management continues to rely on the use of corticosteroids, often in combination with additional immunosuppressive agents. The rarity of myositis-associated interstitial lung disease and lack of controlled trials have limited analyses of treatment efficacy, mandating the development of standardized outcome measures and improvement of data sharing between disciplines
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Characterization of Endothelin Receptor Subtypes on Airway Smooth Muscle Cells
Endothelin-1 (ET-1) has constrictor and mitogenic effects on airway smooth muscle strips and cultured cells, respectively. This study addresses the type of the ET receptor subtype(s) present on ovine airway smooth muscle cells and the possibility of autocrine effects. The expression of the preproendothelin-1 gene was demonstrated by Northern analysis, and the medium obtained from these cells contained immunoreactive-ET-1. Competitive binding experiments between [125I]ET-1 and ET-1, ET-3, and two ET-receptor subtype selective-ligands, BQ-123 (ETA and sarafotoxin S6c (ETB), yielded IC50 values of 1.1 ± 0.1, 227 ± 13, 12 ± 1, and 194 ± 21 nM, respectively. ET-3 also gave a limited number of higher affinity sites. In the presence of BQ-123 (1 μ;M), the binding of [1251]ET-1 was decreased by 80-85%, and the IC50 values with ET-1, ET-3, and S6c were 2.0 ± 0.4, 3.6 ± 0.6, and 1.1 ± 0.9 nM, respectively. In similar experiments with 0.1 μM sarafotoxin S6c, the respective IC50 values for ET-1 and ET-3 were 2.4 ± 0.4 and 300 ± 20 nM. These results demonstrate that about 85 ± 5% of ET-1 binding to airway smooth muscle cells is to ETA receptors and that these cells produce ET-1 in vitro
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A transformed murine Leydig cell line expresses the ETA receptor subtype
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Stem Cell Therapy for COPD: Hope and Exploitation
COPD is a chronic inflammatory and destructive disease characterized by progressive decline in lung function that can accelerate with aging. Preclinical studies suggest that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may provide a therapeutic option for this incurable disease because of their antiinflammatory, reparative, and immunomodulatory properties. To date, clinical trials using MSCs demonstrate safety in patients with COPD. However, because of the notable absence of large, multicenter randomized trials, no efficacy or evidence exists to support the possibility that MSCs can restore lung function in patients with COPD. Unfortunately, the investigational status of cell-based interventions for lung diseases has not hindered the propagation of commercial businesses, exploitation of the public, and explosion of medical tourism to promote unproven and potentially harmful cell-based interventions for COPD in the United States and worldwide. Patients with COPD constitute the largest group of patients with lung disease flocking to these unregulated clinics. This review highlights the numerous questions and concerns that remain before the establishment of cell-based interventions as safe and efficacious treatments for patients with COPD
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