Serum superoxide dismutase levels correlate with disease activity markers in stable bronchiectasis

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Clinical value of ciliary assessment in bronchiectasis - a cross sectional study

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Non-small cell lung cancer in Chinese is associated with disturbance in systemic antioxidant profiles

Introduction Lung cancer, mainly consists of non-small cell carcinoma (NSCLC), has become an epidemic in the past few decades. Recent data have suggested an important role of antioxidants and reactive oxygen species in lung carcinogenesis. However, the exact antioxidant profiles in subjects with NSCLC are lacking. We have conducted a study of the systemic antioxidant activities in red blood cell lysate from subjects with NSCLC and healthy control subjects. Method Antioxidants (catalase, superoxide dismutase [SOD], and glutathione peroxidase [GPx]) were measured using chemical kinetic reactions under spectrophotometry as previously described.1 Results There were 189 cases of mostly advanced stage IIIB or IV NSCLC (67% males, 57.0 ± 11.7 years, 56% ever-smoked, 56% adenocarcinoma) and 202 healthy controls (59% males, 49.5 ± 15.6 years, 39% ever-smoked) being studied. In subjects with lung cancer, there were higher catalase activity (32.6 ± 4.3 vs 23.5 ± 0.9 mU/g haemoglobin (Hb), P = 0.03), lower SOD activity (26.4 ± 2.4 vs 55 ± 2.5 U/gHb, P < 0.001), and higher GPx activity (227.3 ± 12.4 vs 50.8 ± 1.1 mU/gHb, P < 0.001) compared with controls. The antioxidant activities in lung cancer subjects were not associated with age, gender, smoking status, or tumour cell types. However, more advanced disease (stage IV compared to IIIB) was associated with lower SOD activity (21.8 ± 2.5 vs 37.0 ± 5.7 U/gHb respectively, P = 0.03). Using multivariate analysis, the presence of lung cancer independently predicts catalase, SOD, and GPx activities. Conclusion NSCLC in Chinese is associated with alterations in systemic antioxidant activities, which may play an important role in carcinogenesis. (This study is partially funded by the University Department of Medicine Research Grant 2002, the University of Hong Kong.)link_to_OA_fulltex

Central microtubular ciliary defects are of clinical significance in bronchiectasis

The use of composite materials in structural components is limited, in part, by the need to develop quantitative inspection techniques. Composites present many challenges to the development of such quantitative methods. For example, composite materials are typically anisotropic. Thus a necessary prerequisite for ultrasonic flaw detection and characterization in composite materials is an understanding of the propagation and scattering of waves in a general anisotropic media. Work towards such an understanding has been typically limited to such issues as beam propagation effects (see, for ex., Ref. [1]). The elastic wave inverse scattering problem (flaw characterization), as well as the simpler direct problem (field-flaw interaction), are only minimally developed for anisotropic media of any kind