Five normal human subjects were exposed for 1 h to filtered air (FA) once and to 0.3 ppm O3 on 3 separate days. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid was obtained less than 1 h after FA and either less than 1, 6, or 24 h after O3 exposure. FEV1 was measured before the exposures and the BAL. The first aliquot [proximal airway (PA) sample] was analyzed separately from the pooled Aliquots 2 through 4 [distal airway and alveolar surface (DAAS) sample]. The data from the PA and DAAS samples were then combined to calculate the values that would have been obtained by pooling all BAL washes. FEV1 was significantly (p less than 0.05) decreased 1 h after O3 exposure, but it returned to preexposure values at 6 and 24 h after O3. The percent of neutrophils in the PA sample was significantly elevated at less than 1 h (3.7%) at 6 h (16.5%), and at 24 h (9.2%) after O3. The percent of neutrophils in the DAAS sample and calculated pooled values were significantly elevated at 6 h (4.1 and 7.6%) and at 24 h (5.1 and 5.8%) after O3. These data demonstrate that O3-induced symptoms, FEV1 decrements, and airway neutrophilia follow different time courses and indicate that the pooling of BAL washes may obscure the detection of an O3-induced bronchiolitis. The degree of neutrophilia in the BAL did not correlate with the sensitivity of the individual subjects when measured by acute changes in FEV1, suggesting a dichotomy of pathways that result in O3-induced airway neutrophilia and pulmonary function decrements.

A retrospective review of medical records for all pediatric parapneumonic empyema (PPE) patients admitted to our hospital from 1996 to 2006 revealed that PPE increased 5-fold in the post-heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) period (2001-2005) relative to the pre-PCV7 period (1996-2000), from 13 cases to 65. Most of this increase was associated with culture-negative empyema, which accounted for 61% of all post-2000 cases; 19% was culture-positive pneumococcal empyema. Our analysis indicates that non-PCV7 serotypes became more prevalent at our institution after introduction of the vaccine.

Fetal gene transfer was studied using intrapulmonary and intramyocardial transfer of SIN HIV-1-derived lentiviral vectors expressing EGFP in rhesus monkeys. Fetuses were monitored sonographically during gestation and tissue analyses performed at term or 3 months postnatal age. Animals remained healthy during the study period as evidenced by normal growth, development, hematology, clinical chemistry, echocardiography, and pulmonary function tests. Strong pulmonary fluorescence was observed postnatally after fetal intrapulmonary delivery of lenti-CMV, but not lenti-SP-C, and compared to nontransferred controls. High EGFP copy numbers were found by quantitative PCR with both vector constructs in lung lobes (

The effects of culture conditions on growth and differentiation of human tracheobronchial epithelial (HTBE) cells have been defined. Epithelial cells were dissociated from tissues by protease treatment and were plated on tissue culture dishes in F12 medium supplemented with insulin, transferrin, epidermal growth factor, hydrocortisone, cholera toxin, bovine hypothalamus extract, and retinol. HTBE cells did not express any mucociliary function (ciliogenesis or mucin secretion) on tissue culture plastic, but they could be passaged 3 to 5 times with a total of 10 to 25 population doublings. Cells from early passages re-express both these functions when transplanted to tracheal grafts. When tissue culture plates were coated with collagen film or collagen gel substrata, cell attachment and proliferation were stimulated. However, the expression of mucous cell function in culture occurred only when cells were plated on collagen gel substrata and vitamin A (retinol) was present in the medium. Mucous cell differentiation under optimal conditions was defined by ultrastructural studies, by immunologic studies with mucin-specific monoclonal antibodies, and by carbohydrate and amino acid compositional analyses of mucin-like glycoproteins purified from culture medium. These results demonstrate for the first time that HTBE cells can express mucin synthesis and secretion under appropriate culture conditions.

To determine whether inhaled immunostimulatory DNA sequence oligonucleotides containing CpG motifs mitigate the pathophysiologic manifestation of the asthmatic phenotype (airways hyperresponsiveness and airways remodeling), rhesus monkeys with experimentally induced allergic airways disease were treated seven times with inhaled immunostimulatory oligonucleotides (or sham) periodically for 33 weeks. Airways hyperresponsiveness was reduced twofold in immunostimulatory DNA sequence-treated compared with sham-treated monkeys. Airways from immunostimulatory oligonucleotide-treated monkeys had thinner reticular basement membranes, fewer mucous cells, fewer eosinophils, and fewer mast cells than sham-treated allergic monkeys. We conclude that inhaled immunostimulatory oligonucleotides can attenuate the magnitude of airway hyperreactivity and airways remodeling produced in nonhuman primates with experimentally induced allergic airways disease. Keywordsairway wall alterations; allergic asthma; immunostimulatory DNA sequence oligonucleotides; nonhuman primate Immunostimulatory DNA sequences (ISS) contain a CpG dinuncleotide (CpG motif) that is characteristic of bacterial DNA but relatively rare in vertebrate DNA. Vertebrate innate immune systems can rapidly detect infection using pattern recognition receptors (that include the toll-like receptors on dendritic cells, macrophages, monocytes, and neutrophils.Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to