Repair and Regeneration of the Respiratory System: Complexity, Plasticity, and Mechanisms of Lung Stem Cell Function

Respiratory disease is the third leading cause of death in the industrialized world. Consequently, the trachea, lungs, and cardiopulmonary vasculature have been the focus of extensive investigations. Recent studies have provided new information about the mechanisms driving lung development and differentiation. However, there is still much to learn about the ability of the adult respiratory system to undergo repair and to replace cells lost in response to injury and disease. This review highlights the multiple stem/progenitor populations in different regions of the adult lung, the plasticity of their behavior in injury models, and molecular pathways that support homeostasis and repair

Diet and risk of rheumatoid arthritis in a prospective cohort.

ABSTRACT. Objective. To assess the association between dietary factors and risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a large prospective cohort. Methods. Information about dietary intake was obtained from a detailed self-administered food frequency questionnaire completed by 57,053 individuals who participated in a prospective cohort. Linking the cohort to the Danish National Patient Registry we identified patients who developed RA. A rheumatologist scrutinized original medical records for these individuals in order to confirm the diagnosis of RA. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed for dietary and lifestyle factors. Results. The average time of followup in the cohort was 5.3 years (range < 1 mo to 7.7 yrs). Sixtynine individuals were identified with confirmed incident RA. In multivariate models each increase in intake of 30 g fat fish (≥ 8 g fat/100 g fish) per day was associated with 49% reduction in the risk of RA (p = 0.06), whereas medium fat fish (3-7 g fat/100 g fish) was associated with significantly increased risk of RA. Intake of fruit and coffee was not associated with risk of RA. Furthermore, no associations were found between risk of RA and intake of a range of other dietary factors including long chain fatty acids, olive oil, vitamins A, E, C, D, zinc, selenium, iron, and meat

Dietary intake of different types and characteristics of processed meat which might be associated with cancer risk - results from the 24-hour diet recalls in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

Objective: There is increasing evidence for a significant effect of processed meat (PM) intake on cancer risk. However, refined knowledge on how components of this heterogeneous food group are associated with cancer risk is still missing. Here, actual data on the intake of PM subcategories is given; within a food-based approach we considered preservation methods, cooking methods and nutrient content for stratification, in order to address most of the aetiologically relevant hypotheses. Design and setting: Standardised computerised 24-hour diet recall interviews were collected within the framework of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), a prospective cohort study in 27 centres across 10 European countries. Subjects: Subjects were 22 924 women and 13 031 men aged 35 - 74 years. Results: Except for the so-called ‘health-conscious’ cohort in the UK, energy-adjusted total PM intake ranged between 11.1 and 47.9 g day(-1) in women and 18.8 and 88.5 g day(-1) in men. Ham, salami-type sausages and heated sausages contributed most to the overall PM intake. The intake of cured (addition of nitrate/nitrite) PM was highest in the German, Dutch and northern European EPIC centres, with up to 68.8 g day(-1) in men. The same was true for smoked PM (up to 51.8 g day(-1)). However, due to the different manufacturing practice, the highest average intake of NaNO2 through PM consumption was found for the Spanish centres (5.4 mg day(-1) in men) as compared with German and British centres. Spanish centres also showed the highest intake of NaCl-rich types of PM; most cholesterol- and iron-rich PM was consumed in central and northern European centres. Possibly hazardous cooking methods were more often used for PM preparation in central and northern European centres. Conclusions: We applied a food-based categorisation of PM that addresses aetiologically relevant mechanisms for cancer development and found distinct differences in dietary intake of these categories of PM across European cohorts. This predisposes EPIC to further investigate the role of PM in cancer aetiology