Association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from 28 823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income. Results Overall, working in settings with potentially high exposure to dusts or fumes was associated with respiratory symptoms but not lung function differences. The most common occupation was farming. Compared to people not working in any of the 11 considered occupations, those who were farmers for ≥20 years were more likely to have chronic cough (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.19–1.94), wheeze (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16–1.63) and dyspnoea (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.53–2.20), but not lower FVC (β=0.02 L, 95% CI −0.02–0.06 L) or lower FEV1/FVC (β=0.04%, 95% CI −0.49–0.58%). Some findings differed by sex and gross national income. Conclusion At a population level, the occupational exposures considered in this study do not appear to be major determinants of differences in lung function, although they are associated with more respiratory symptoms. Because not all work settings were included in this study, respiratory surveillance should still be encouraged among high-risk dusty and fume job workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.publishedVersio

Cohort Profile: Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study was established to assess the prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction, a key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and its risk factors in adults (≥40 years) from general populations across the world. The baseline study was conducted between 2003 and 2016, in 41 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Oceania, and collected high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry from 28 828 participants. The follow-up study was conducted between 2019 and 2021, in 18 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. At baseline, there were in these sites 12 502 participants with high-quality spirometry. A total of 6452 were followed up, with 5936 completing the study core questionnaire. Of these, 4044 also provided high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. On both occasions, the core questionnaire covered information on respiratory symptoms, doctor diagnoses, health care use, medication use and ealth status, as well as potential risk factors. Information on occupation, environmental exposures and diet was also collected

Machine Learning Modeling of Vitality Characteristics in Historical Preservation Zones with Multi-Source Data

Research on historic preservation zones (HPZs) has recently attracted increasing attention from academia and industry. With eight Beijing typical HPZs selected, this study evaluates critical vitality characteristics and identifies the key influencing factors via multi-source data and machine learning technology. The vitality characteristics were identified from three dimensions: physical space vitality, cyberspace vitality, and sentiment degree. For influencing factors, 23 variables were constructed from four aspects (morphological, functional, visual, and traffic) using Computer Vision (CV), natural language processing (NLP) and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. Then, three vitality dimensions were introduced as responsive variables to establish three Random Forest Regression models. Lastly, each factor’s influence degree and direction on vitality were explained based on the feature importance and correlation analysis. Through this study, we have thoroughly examined the different influencing factors of vitality in HPZs and summarized the following academic findings: (1) Density of road intersections, the number of shops, and road impedance are the three of the most significant influencing factors that are negatively related to vitality. (2) Factors that have the highest impact on the sentiment degree are road impedance and the number of public infrastructures, which also negatively affect the population’s satisfaction. (3) The number of catering and entertainment amenities are critical factors that positively affect cyberspace’s vitality. In this study, all three models have adequately explained variables and generalization capability, which can be applied to other larger HPZs in Beijing. In addition, the findings of this study can also potentially provide insights for enhancing precinct vitality and the governance of HPZs in other cities

Bone morphogenetic protein 4 enhances canonical transient receptor potential expression, store-operated Ca2+ entry, and basal [Ca2+]i in rat distal pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells

Recent advances have identified an important role of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) in pulmonary vascular remodeling, yet the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. We have previously found that Ca2+ influx through store-operated calcium channels (SOCC), which are mainly thought to be composed of canonical transient receptor potential (TRPC) proteins, likely contribute to the pathogenic development of chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. In this study, we investigated the effect of BMP4 on expression of TRPC and store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). Real-time quantitative PCR and Western blotting revealed that treatment with BMP4 (50 ng/ml, 60 h) increased TRPC1, TRPC4, and TRPC6 mRNA and protein expression in growth-arrested rat distal PASMCs. Moreover, in comparison to vehicle control, cells treated with BMP4 also exhibited enhanced SOCE, and elevated basal intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) as determined by fluorescent microscopy using the Ca2+ indicator Fura-2 AM. Perfusing cells with Ca2+-free Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate solution (KRBS) or KRBS containing SOCC antagonists SKF-96365 or NiCl2 attenuated the increases in basal [Ca2+]i caused by BMP4. Specific knockdown of BMP4 by small interference RNA significantly decreased the mRNA and protein expression of TRPC1, TRPC4, and TRPC6 and reduced SOCE and basal [Ca2+]i in serum-stimulated PASMCs. We conclude that BMP4 regulates calcium signaling in PASMCs likely via upregulation of TRPC expression, leading to enhanced SOCE and basal [Ca2+]i in PASMCs, and by this mechanism contributes to pulmonary vascular remodeling during pulmonary arterial hypertension

Sildenafil inhibits chronically hypoxic upregulation of canonical transient receptor potential expression in rat pulmonary arterial smooth muscle

In pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), Ca2+ influx through store-operated Ca2+ channels thought to be composed of canonical transient receptor potential (TRPC) proteins is an important determinant of intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and pulmonary vascular tone. Sildenafil, a type V phosphodiesterase inhibitor that increases cellular cGMP, is recently identified as a promising agent for treatment of pulmonary hypertension. We previously demonstrated that chronic hypoxia elevated basal [Ca2+]i in PASMCs due in large part to enhanced store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE); moreover, ex vivo exposure to prolonged hypoxia (4% O2 for 60 h) upregulated TRPC1 and TRPC6 expression in PASMCs. We examined the effect of sildenafil on basal [Ca2+]i, SOCE, and the expression of TRPC in PASMCs under prolonged hypoxia exposure. We also examined the effect of sildenafil on TRPC1 and TRPC6 expression in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle (PA) from rats that developed chronically hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (CHPH). Compared with vehicle control, treatment with sildenafil (300 nM) inhibited prolonged hypoxia induced increases of 1) basal [Ca2+]i, 2) SOCE, and 3) mRNA and protein expression of TRPC in PASMCs. Moreover, sildenafil (50 mg · kg−1 · day−1) inhibited mRNA and protein expression of TRPC1 and TRPC6 in PA from chronically hypoxic (10% O2 for 21 days) rats, which was associated with decreased right ventricular pressure and right ventricular hypertrophy. Furthermore, we found, in PASMCs exposed to prolonged hypoxia, that knockdown of TRPC1 or TRPC6 by their specific small interference RNA attenuated the hypoxic increases of SOCE and basal [Ca2+]i, suggesting a cause and effect link between increases of TRPC1 and TRPC6 expression and the hypoxic increases of SOCE and basal [Ca2+]i. These results suggest that sildenafil may alter basal [Ca2+]i in PASMCs by decreasing SOCE through downregulation of TRPC1 and TRPC6 expression, thereby contributing to decreased vascular tone of pulmonary arteries during the development of CHPH

Expression of store-operated Ca2+ entry and transient receptor potential canonical and vanilloid-related proteins in rat distal pulmonary venous smooth muscle

Chronic hypoxia causes remodeling and alters contractile responses in both pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins. Although pulmonary arteries have been studied extensively in these disorders, the mechanisms by which pulmonary veins respond to hypoxia and whether these responses contribute to chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension remain poorly understood. In pulmonary arterial smooth muscle, we have previously demonstrated that influx of Ca2+ through store-operated calcium channels (SOCC) thought to be composed of transient receptor potential (TRP) proteins is likely to play an important role in development of chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. To determine whether this mechanism could also be operative in pulmonary venous smooth muscle, we measured intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) by fura-2 fluorescence microscopy in primary cultures of pulmonary venous smooth muscle cells (PVSMC) isolated from rat distal pulmonary veins. In cells perfused with Ca2+-free media containing cyclopiazonic acid (10 μM) and nifedipine (5 μM) to deplete sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ stores and block voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, restoration of extracellular Ca2+ (2.5 mM) caused marked increases in [Ca2+]i, whereas MnCl2 (200 μM) quenched fura-2 fluorescence, indicating store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE). SKF-96365 and NiCl2, antagonists of SOCC, blocked SOCE at concentrations that did not alter Ca2+ responses to 60 mM KCl. Of the seven known canonical TRP (TRPC1–7) and six vanilloid-related TRP channels (TRPV1–6), real-time PCR revealed mRNA expression of TRPC1 > TRPC6 > TRPC4 > TRPC2 ≈ TRPC5 > TRPC3, TRPV2 > TRPV4 > TRPV1 in distal PVSMC, and TRPC1 > TRPC6 > TRPC3 > TRPC4 ≈ TRPC5, TRPV2 ≈ TRPV4 > TRPV1 in rat distal pulmonary vein (PV) smooth muscle. Western blotting confirmed protein expression of TRPC1, TRPC6, TRPV2, and TRPV4 in both PVSMC and PV. Our results suggest that SOCE through Ca2+ channels composed of TRP proteins may contribute to Ca2+ signaling in rat distal PV smooth muscle

Interfacial Activity of Starch-Based Nanoparticles at the Oil–Water Interface

Understanding the interfacial activity of polysaccharide nanoparticles adsorbed at oil–water interfaces is essential and important for the application of these nanoparticles as Pickering stabilizers. The interfacial properties of starch-based nanospheres (SNPs) at the interface of an <i>n</i>-hexane–water system were investigated by monitoring the interfacial tension at different bulk concentrations. The three-phase contact angle (θ) and the adsorption energy (Δ<i>E</i>) increased with increasing size and degree of substitution with octenyl succinic groups (OSA) in the particles. Compared with the OSA-modified starch (OSA-S) macromolecule, the SNPs effectively reduced the interfacial tension of the <i>n</i>-hexane–water system at a relatively higher concentration. These results and the method reported herein are useful for selecting and preparing polysaccharide nanoparticles as Pickering stabilizers for oil–water emulsions