ObjectiveTo investigate the fatigue of asthma patients, and to analyze its influencing factors, and provide a reference for clinical intervention.MethodsThe convenience sampling method was adopted to select asthma patients who were in clinic of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from November 2018 to March 2019. The patients’ lung function were measured. And questionnaires were conducted, including general data questionnaire, Chinese version of Checklist Individual Strength-Fatigue, Asthma Control Test, Chinese version of Self-rating Depression Scale. Relevant data were collected for multiple stepwise linear regression analysis.ResultsFinally, 120 patients were enrolled. The results of multiple stepwise linear regression analysis showed that age, education level, place of residence, time period of frequent asthma symptoms, degree of small airway obstruction, Asthma Control Test score and degree of depression were the influencing factors of fatigue in asthma patients (P≤0.05). Multivariate linear stepwise regression analysis showed that degree of small airway obstruction, degree of depression and time period of frequent asthma symptoms were the main influencing factors of fatigue in asthma patients, which could explain 51.8% of the variance of fatigue (ΔR2=0.518).ConclusionsThe incidence of fatigue in asthma patients is at a relatively high level. Medical staff should pay attention to the symptoms of fatigue in asthma patients. For asthma patients, it is recommended to strengthen standardized diagnosis and treatment, reduce the onset of symptoms at night and eliminate small airway obstruction. Psychological intervention methods are needed to improve patients’ depression, reduce fatigue symptoms, and improve quality of life.
Objective To investigate and discuss the prevalence and the relevant risk factors of bronchial asthma in Shenzhen city China. Methods We used standard scheme and questionnaire, and performed stratified-cluster-disproportional-random-sampling survey for the population of five communities. Results A total of 6 248 people were surveyed. 50.5% (3 156 of 6 248) of whom were men and 49.5% (3 092 of 6 248) were women. In this survey, forty asthma patients were found, and the overall prevalence rate was 0.64%, three groups with higher prevalence were 66 to 75 years (54‰), 56 to 65 years (23‰) and 14 to 17 years (12‰) respectively. Risk factors found that among 40 asthma patients, people often exposed to secondhand smoking were reported by 40% and children exposed to their father’s smoking from fetus were reported by 57%. People with asthma with allergic rhinitis were reported by 50%. The attacks were caused by common cold and changing temperature or inhaling cold air were 45% and 30% respectively. About 86% of children suffered from asthma before 2 years old. Conclusion This survey has basically reflected the distribution, frequency and intensity of asthma. The overall prevalence rate is 0.64% from which it would be estimated that there could be 25 900 asthma patients in Shenzhen city, the relavent data will provide basis for the future research, mass prevention and the treatment of asthma.
Objective To investigate the effects of a mixed bacterial lysate (OM-85 BV) on lung function and serum IgE in asthmatic mice under acute attack, and to explore the therapeutic effect of OM-85 BV on acute attack and the application value of OM-85 BV in non-acute attack. Methods A total of 30 SPF Kunming mice aged 4 to 6 weeks were randomly divided into 3 groups, namely a blank control group (Group A), an asthma model group (Group B), and an OM-85 BV intervention group (Group C). The mice in groups B and C were sensitized by intraperitoneal injection of ovalbumin on day 1, 8 and 15, respectively. From day 22, the asthma model was stimulated by inhalation of 5% ovalbumin every day for 30 min for 5 consecutive days. The mice in group C were treated with OM-85 BV dissolved in normal saline from day 1, and each mouse was gavaged continuously for 10 days. The intraperitoneal injection, intragastric administration and aerosol inhalation reagent of mice in group A were all replaced by normal saline, while the intragastric administration of mice in group B was replaced by normal saline. One hour after the last stimulation, the mice were anesthetized, their lung function was measured, blood was collected from the eyeballs and then they were sacrificed, and the blood was centrifuged and the serum was separated and stored. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used for pathological examination. Serum IgE was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Compared with group A, forced vital capacity in 0.15 second (FEV0.15), FEV0.15/forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) of mice in group B were significantly decreased. The lung function of group C was improved compared with group B. In group B, the pathological manifestations were dysplasia and collapse of bronchial epithelium, infiltration of inflammatory cells, mainly lymphocytes and eosinophils, a small amount of mucus and shed epithelial cells in the tracheal lumen, and significant thickening of airway wall. The asthma mouse model was well established. The pathological manifestations of airway in group C were less severe than those in group B, the thickness of airway wall was reduced, and the inflammatory cells were also significantly reduced. The serum IgE concentration in groups B and C increased, and the IgE level in group C decreased significantly compared with group B. The differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusions Exogenous administration of OM-85 BV in asthmatic mice can effectively reduce the concentration of serum IgE, alleviate airway inflammation, reduce eosinophil infiltration, and improve the pulmonary function performance of asthmatic mice during acute attack, showing that FEV0.15/FVC, FEV0.15 and PEF indicators are significantly improved. OM-85 BV can alleviate the symptoms of bronchial asthma in the acute attack of mice, improve the physiological function of the lung during the acute attack, inhibit airway inflammation, and have certain application value in the stable asthma control.
Objective To observe the effect of NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor MCC950 intervention on airway Muc5ac level in asthmatic mice, and to explore the role and mechanism of NLRP3 inflammasome in asthmatic airway mucus hypersecretion. Methods A total of 50 SPF grade BALB/c female mice aged 6 - 8 weeks were randomly divided into normal control group (NS group), asthma model group (AS group), dexamethasone group (Dex group), MCC950 high-dose intervention group (MH group) and MCC950 low-dose intervention group (ML group), with 10 mice in each group. Furthermore, the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of mice in each group was counted by total cell count, associated with white blood cell different count. In addition, the concentrations of interleukin (IL)-18 and IL-1β in BALF were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; The lung tissues were prepared into paraffin-embedded sections, which were then subject to hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, Alcian blue-periodic acid Schiff base staining and Masson staining to observe the pathological changes of lung tissues. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the protein expression levels of Muc5ac, NLRP3 and caspase-1 in lung tissues. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect the relative mRNA expressions of Muc5ac, NLRP3 and Caspase-1 in lung tissues. Results Compared with NS group, AS group showed significant increase in total cell count of BALF, the percentage of eosinophils, the infiltration score of inflammatory cells around the airway, the positive relative staining area of airway mucus and the deposition area of airway collagen fibers in mice (P<0.05), upregulated protein expression levels of Muc5ac, NLRP3 and Caspase-1 in lung tissues (P<0.05), elevated relative mRNA expressions of Muc5ac, NLRP3 and Caspase-1 in lung tissues (P<0.05), and raised concentrations of IL-18 and IL-1β in BALF (P<0.05). While compared with AS group, the above indicators were reduced in MH group and ML group (P<0.05). Moreover, in relative to Dex group, these indicators were increased in MH group ML group (P<0.05). In addition, no statistically significant difference was observed in the aforementioned indications between MH group and ML group.Conclusions MCC950 intervention can inhibit airway inflammation and airway mucus secretion in asthmatic mice. Its mechanism is speculated to be related to the suppression of NLRP3, Caspase-1, IL-18 and IL-1β expressions, downregulation of Muc5ac expression, and inhibition in airway mucus hypersecretion.
Objective Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is characterized by anexaggerated reaction to airway colonization aspergillus which affects patients with underlying diseases such asbronchial asthma, cystic fibrosis or other respiratory diseases. ABPA exhibit significant heterogeneity due to theunderlying diseases. The clinical features of patients with ABPA were analyzed retrospectively, so as to explore theimpact of underlying diseases on clinical characteristics. Methods The clinical data of hospitalized patients diagnosed with ABPA from January 2010 to September 2019 in Peking University People's Hospital were reviewed for retrospective analysis. Results A total of 40 ABPA patients were enrolled. Of which 8 cases (20.0%) were previously diagnosed as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and/or bronchiectasis, named non-asthma group; while the other 32 cases met the diagnosis criteria of asthma, named asthma group. The non-asthma ABPA patients had a shorter course [78 (6 - 300) months vs. 192 (39 - 480) months, P=0.02], a higher percentage of peripheral blood neutrophils (79.9%±12.5% vs. 68.1%±18.1%, P=0.01) and higher score of emphysema [2 (0 - 2) vs. 0 (0 - 1), P=0.02] than the asthma group. Conclusions There is no significant difference in clinical and radiological characteristics between ABPA patients without asthma and those with asthma. The diagnosis of ABPA should also be considered when patients with chronic pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis have aggravation of dyspnea, increase of eosinophils in peripheral blood and typical imaging features such as mucus attenuation.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of methodology and evidence of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) of acupuncture therapy for bronchial asthma. MethodsCNKI, CBM, VIP, WanFang Data, PubMed, The Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases were electronically searched to collect SRs/MAs of acupuncture therapy for bronchial asthma from inception to October 31, 2021. Four reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and applied the AMSTAR 2 to evaluate the quality of methodology of the included studies and the GRADE system to assess the certainty of evidence for outcomes. ResultsA total of 14 SRs/MAs were included and their main conclusions were that acupuncture therapy was beneficial in improving the clinical efficacy of bronchial asthma treatment. The evaluation of AMSTAR 2 showed that the methodological quality of all studies was all extremely low. The evidence grading of GRADE system showed that, in the total of 59 outcomes, 7 were graded as medium-level, 24 as low-level, 28 as extremely low-level, and none was graded as high-level. ConclusionThe current evidence shows the advantages of acupuncture therapy for bronchial asthma but the reliability of SRs/MAs is low. High-quality clinical studies are still needed to verify the efficacy of acupuncture therapy for bronchial asthma.
Objection To investigate the changes of insulin and insulin receptor in asthma patients.Methods Forty asthma patients were allocated into two groups：20 newly diagnosed treatment–naiuml;ve mild-moderate asthma patients，20 mild-moderate persistent asthma patients treated with inhaled corticosteroid. 20 healthy volunteers were enrolled as normal control.Blood samples were obtained from 40 asthma patients and 20 healthy volunteers.Total and differential leukocyte counts,blood glucose concentration and serum insulin concentration were measured.The level of lymphocyte insulin receptor in peripheral blood were assayed by flow cytomertry.Pulmonary function were performed at the same time.Results The numbers of eosinophil in the two asthma groups were significantly higher than those in the normal control group [(4.04±2.57)% and (4.24±2.34)% vs (0.90±1.38)%，Plt;0.05)，the levels of insulin and insulin receptor in the treatment-naiuml;ve group were significantly higher than those in the control group [insulin：(13.00±5.20)mIU/L vs (10.08±3.79)mIU/L，Plt;0.05；insulin receptor：(2.59±3.11)% vs (0.99±0.62)%，Plt;0.05).Conclusion Insulin secretion and insulin receptor expression in asthma patients are increased in the presence of inflammation.
ObjectiveTo analyze misdiagnosis of other lung diseases as asthma to avoid medical error. MethodsSixty-nine cases who were misdiagnosed as asthma between February 2012 and February 2014 were recruited. Clinical data was collected and analyzed including characteristics of symptoms, induced sputum, pulmonary function and blood tests. ResultsThere were 13 diseases misdiagnosed as asthma, and eosinophilic bronchitis(21.74%), upper airway cough syndrome(20.29%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(13.04%), allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis(7.25%) and hyperventilation syndrome (7.25%) were the top five diseases in these cases. Some rare diseases were also found such as idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome and vocal cord dysfunction. ConclusionsA variety of diseases have the similar clinical symptoms with asthma. The key to avoid and reduce misdiagnosis is to strengthen the understanding of asthma and similar diseases.
ObjectiveTo analyze the relationship between medication compliance of patients with uncontrolled asthma and lung function,airway inflammation level, asthma control level and quality of life so as to obtain important references for improving patient compliance and asthma control level in the future. MethodsQuestionnaires were performed in asthma patients who did not achieve asthma control and had poor compliance in 32 third-class hospitals in 28 provinces of China mainland. All patients were tested for lung function and airway inflammation levels. So the relevant data of asthma compliance was investigated and analyzed. ResultsA total of 923 patients were investigated and the questionnaire recovery rate was 100%. Two hundred and forty-three (26.33%) answered cognitive related questions about asthma completely correctly. Treatment compliance in asthma patients was positively correlated with lung function and significantly negatively correlated with exhaled nitric oxide. Better treatment compliance in asthma has higher level of asthma control and quality of life. Poor compliance in asthma patients will lead to decreased lung function and elevated levels of airway inflammation, resulting in decreased asthma control and quality of life. ConclusionAsthma treatment compliance is related to lung function, airway inflammation, asthma control level and quality of life.
Objective To explore the clinical features and diagnostic procedure of atypical asthma characteristic of chest pain.Methods The patients with unexplained chest pain were screened by lung function test and bronchial provocation test.The diagnosis of asthma was established by therapeutic test and exclusive procedure.The clinical manifestations were analyzed.Results In 56 cases of unexplained chest pain 20 cases were diagnosed as asthma.While all patients referred to clinic with chest pain as chief complaint，a majority of patients (11 cases，85%) showed obscure chest tightness，breath shortness and cough..Some cases reported the same trigger factors as asthma.Chest pain was relieved in all cases after regular antiasthma treatments.Conclusions Chest pain could be a specific presentation of asthma which may be misdiagnosed as other diseases.Bronchial provocation tests and antiasthma therapy should be considered to screen and diagnose this atypical asthma.