Objective To measure the serum level of adiponectin and explore its clinical implication in patients with asthma in acute exacerbation and remission phase. Methods 97 patients with asthma were recruited, including 50 patients with asthma in acute exacerbation and 47 patients in remission phase fromOctober 2010 to September 2011. 27 healthy nonsmoking volunteers of normal weight ( BMI range of 18.5-24. 9 kg/m2 ) were included as control. The concentrations of adiponectin and tumor necrosis factor alpha ( TNF-α) in serum were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) . The lung function was tested in all subjects. The correlations between adiponectin, TNF-αand lung function were investigated. The data was analyzed using SPSS 19. 0 software. Variables were compared with one-way ANOVA. The correlations between variables were analyzed using Peason’s correlation coefficient or Spearman correlation coefficient.Results Serum adiponectin level was significantly lower in the patients with asthma in acute exacerbation [ ( 246 ±1. 21) ng/mL] than that in the healthy subjects [ ( 9. 64 ±4. 88)ng/mL] and the patients in remission phase [ ( 3. 79 ±0. 96) ng/mL] ( P lt; 0. 01) , while serum adiponectin level was also significantly lower in the patients in asthma remission phase than that in the healthy subjects ( P lt; 0. 01) . The serum adiponectin level in the patients with asthma in acute exacerbation or in asthma remission phase was negatively correlated with the serum TNF-α level ( P lt; 0. 01) , and was positively correlated with FEV1 /predicted value ( P lt; 0. 01) . Conclusions The serum adiponectin is reduced in asthma patients and may play a protective role in asthma.
Objective To investigate the risk factors of stroke associated pneumonia in stroke patients.Methods A case-control study was conducted. 114 patients who were diagnosed stroke associated pneumonia between January 2008 and December 2010 were recruited as a patient group. 205 patients who were diagnosed stroke without pneumoniawere recruited as a control group. General conditions, accompanied disease, vital sign, hematologic marker, severity of stroke, and bulbar paralysis were compared between two groups. Multifactor Logistic regression was used to screen associated factors.Results Age gt; 65 years ( OR=3. 310, 95% CI 2. 016-7. 549) , accompanied with COPD ( OR = 3. 624, 95% CI 1. 574-9. 236) , diabetes ( OR= 3. 781, 95% CI 1. 305-6. 842) , failed water swallowing test ( OR = 3. 625, 95% CI 1. 604- 8. 386) , big volume of stroke ( OR=14. 784, 95% CI 3. 737-38. 588) , NIH stroke scale ( NIHSS) score gt;6 ( OR=2. 913, 95% CI 1. 029-7. 985) , abbreviated mental test ( AMT) score lt; 8 ( OR = 4. 229, 95% CI 2. 215-9. 368) were associated with stroke associated pneumonia. Conclusion The risk factors for stroke associated pneumonia in stroke patients were age gt;65 years, accompanied with COPD, diabetes, failed WST, big volume of stroke, NIHSS score gt;6, and AMT score lt;8.
Objectve To measure the serum levels of human IL-32 and explore the clincal implication in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease( COPD) at acute exacerbation or stable stage. Methods 120 patients with COPD were recruited, including 60 patients with acute exacerbation COPD and 60 patients with stable COPD from October 2010 to May 2011. Thirty healthy nonsmoking volunteers were included as controls. The concentrations of interleukin-8 ( IL-8) , tumor necrosis factor alpha ( TNF-α) , and IL-32 in serum were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA) . The correlations among IL-32, IL-8, TNF-αand lung functions were investigated. The datas were analyzed using a statistical software package ( SPSS13. 0) . Variables were compared with one-way ANOVA . The correlations between variables were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient or Spearman correlation coefficient. Results SerumIL-32 level was significantly higher in AECOPD patients [ ( 174. 56 ±88. 15) ng/L] than that in healthy subjects [ ( 59. 41 ±20. 98) ng/L] and in stable COPD patients [ ( 89. 40 ±33. 84) ng/L]( P lt;0. 05) while serum IL-32 level was also significantly higher in stable COPD patients than in healthy subjects( P lt;0. 05) . The serumIL-32 1evel in patients with acute exacerbation COPD and stable COPD was positively correlated with the serumIL-8 level, TNF-αlevel ( respectively P lt;0. 01) . The serumIL-32 level was negatively correlated with FEV1 /predicted value, FEV1 /FVC and PaO2 ( respectively, P lt;0. 01) . There was no statistical significance of the serum IL-32, IL-8 or TNF-α levels in COPD patients with different severity ( all P gt;0. 05) . Conclusion The serumlevel of IL-32, a newpro-inflammatory cytokine is elevated in COPD patients, which may be involved in the pathogenesis of inflammation in COPD.