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Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2022 May 17;239:113651. Epub 2022 May 17.

Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University of Białystok, 15-089 Białystok, Poland. Electronic address:

Air pollution, to which children are more susceptible than adults, can promote airway inflammation, potentially exaggerating the effects of respiratory viral infection. This study examined the association between the clinical manifestation of COVID-19 in unvaccinated pediatric patients hospitalized in Poland (n = 766) and levels of particulate matter 2.5 (PM) and benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P) within a week before hospitalization. Read More

Paediatr Int Child Health 2022 May 19:1-6. Epub 2022 May 19.

Department of Paediatrics, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

Introduction: Early diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in infants is important but is commonly missed because the symptoms are often non-specific.

Case Presentation: A Nepalese male infant born at 26 weeks gestation and weighing 1227 g (97th centile) was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) immediately after birth for the management of his prematurity. After extubation on Day 8, his oxygen saturation became unstable and he required nasal continuous positive airway pressure with oxygen for 3 months. Read More

Indian J Crit Care Med 2022 Mar;26(3):331-338

Department of Pediatrics, Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) associated with COVID-19 in children is not well described in the literature, so this study was designed to assess the severity, clinical course, different treatment measures, and outcome of this group of patients.

Patients And Methods: This descriptive study was performed by retrospective chart review of children admitted in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in the age-group of 1 month to 12 years over the period of 6 months (July-December 2020) in a tertiary care pediatric COVID facility in eastern India. Severity of ARDS, ventilator settings, oxygenation and laboratory parameters, and outcomes were documented. Read More

Health Sci Rep 2022 May 20;5(3):e581. Epub 2022 Apr 20.

Ministry of Health Cairo Egypt.

Background And Aims: Sputum neutrophil elastase (NE) is a marker of neutrophilic airway inflammation in bronchiectasis. Yet, not much is known about its role in pediatric bronchiectasis severity. This study aimed to assess the sputum NE value as a biomarker of clinical and radiological severity in pediatric bronchiectasis. Read More

Allergy Asthma Proc 2022 03;43(2):133-139

From the Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, characterized by chronic airway inflammation. Asthma exacerbations (AE) are episodes characterized by a progressive increase in symptoms of shortness of breath, cough, wheezing, or chest tightness with a decrease in lung function. There have been previous studies that examined the role of eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) in asthma, but there have been no studies of the role of EDN in children experiencing AE. Read More

SAGE Open Med 2022 9;10:20503121221076934. Epub 2022 Feb 9.

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

There are an estimated 5 million children working in artisanal and small-scale gold mines worldwide; however, the hazards are poorly characterized and often underreported. We systematically reviewed the literature on reports of hazards among children as a consequence of such activities through PubMed database using pre-defined search terms. We identified 113 articles published between 1984 and 2021 from 31 countries. Read More

Int J Mol Sci 2022 Jan 23;23(3). Epub 2022 Jan 23.

Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.

Premature infants are born with developing lungs burdened by surfactant deficiency and a dearth of antioxidant defense systems. Survival rate of such infants has significantly improved due to advances in care involving mechanical ventilation and oxygen supplementation. However, a significant subset of such survivors develops the chronic lung disease, Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), characterized by enlarged, simplified alveoli and deformed airways. Read More

Paediatr Anaesth 2022 05 4;32(5):665-672. Epub 2022 Feb 4.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Background: Pediatric sedation is a clinical activity with potential for serious but rare airway adverse events, particularly laryngospasm. Anticholinergic drugs, atropine and glycopyrrolate, are frequently used with the intention to improve sedation safety by virtue of their antisialagogue effects.

Aims: The objective of this study is to describe the current practice of anticholinergic use in pediatric sedation and to compare the frequency of serious sedation-related adverse events in patients who received anticholinergics to those who did not. Read More

Breathe (Sheff) 2021 Sep;17(3):210053

Respiratory Medicine, Respiratory Medicine Unit and Oxford Respiratory NIHR BRC, Nuffield Dept of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Airway diseases were initially described by nonspecific patterns of symptoms, for example "dry and wheezy" and "wet and crackly". The model airway disease is cystic fibrosis, which has progressed from nonspecific reactive treatments such as antibiotics for airway infection to molecular sub-endotype, proactive therapies with an unequivocal evidence base, early diagnosis, and biomarkers of treatment efficacy. Unfortunately, other airway diseases lag behind, not least because nonspecific umbrella labels such as "asthma" are considered to be diagnoses not mere descriptions. Read More

Toxics 2021 Dec 20;9(12). Epub 2021 Dec 20.

Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.

Diacetyl (DA) is a highly reactive alpha diketone associated with flavoring-related lung disease. In rodents, acute DA vapor exposure can initiate an airway-centric, inflammatory response. However, this immune response has yet to be fully characterized in the context of flavoring-related lung disease progression. Read More

Front Pediatr 2021 18;9:736018. Epub 2021 Nov 18.

School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Diagnostic errors are a global health priority and a common cause of preventable harm. There is limited data available for the prevalence of misdiagnosis in pediatric acute-care settings. Respiratory illnesses, which are particularly challenging to diagnose, are the most frequent reason for presentation to pediatric emergency departments. Read More

Eur Respir J 2022 02 17;59(2). Epub 2022 Feb 17.

Dept of Internal Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.

Rationale: Asthma phenotyping requires novel biomarker discovery.

Objectives: To identify plasma biomarkers associated with asthma phenotypes by application of a new proteomic panel to samples from two well-characterised cohorts of severe (SA) and mild-to-moderate (MMA) asthmatics, COPD subjects and healthy controls (HCs).

Methods: An antibody-based array targeting 177 proteins predominantly involved in pathways relevant to inflammation, lipid metabolism, signal transduction and extracellular matrix was applied to plasma from 525 asthmatics and HCs in the U-BIOPRED cohort, and 142 subjects with asthma and COPD from the validation cohort BIOAIR. Read More

JCI Insight 2021 11 8;6(21). Epub 2021 Nov 8.

Marsico Lung Institute and.

Ozone is a highly reactive environmental pollutant with well-recognized adverse effects on lung health. Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is one consequence of ozone exposure, particularly for individuals with underlying lung disease. Our data demonstrated that ozone induced substantial ATP release from human airway epithelia in vitro and into the airways of mice in vivo and that ATP served as a potent inducer of mast cell degranulation and BHR, acting through P2X7 receptors on mast cells. Read More

Front Immunol 2021 14;12:663303. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Research Laboratory of Lung Diseases, Section of Cell Biology, IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation, Pavia, Italy.

The release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a process termed NETosis, avoids pathogen spread but may cause tissue injury. NETs have been found in severe COVID-19 patients, but their role in disease development is still unknown. The aim of this study is to assess the capacity of NETs to drive epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of lung epithelial cells and to analyze the involvement of NETs in COVID-19. Read More

mSphere 2021 06 23;6(3):e0035821. Epub 2021 Jun 23.

Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common pathogens isolated from the airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and often persists for extended periods. There is limited knowledge about the diversity of S. aureus in CF. Read More

Pediatrics 2021 07 22;148(1). Epub 2021 Jun 22.

Department of Pediatrics

Pediatric patients with respiratory signs and symptoms who are found to be wheezing present a diagnostic dilemma to pediatricians. The majority of these cases are diagnosed as some degree of reactive airway disease, either as viral bronchiolitis or asthma. In this scenario, a patient with wheezing was initially given 2 courses of appropriate antibiotics on the basis of the duration and concurrence of other symptoms. Read More

Acad Pediatr 2022 Jan-Feb;22(1):37-46. Epub 2021 Jun 18.

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (SM Frey, V Kwiatkowski, A Reinish), Rochester, NY.

Objective: Clinical diagnoses of asthma and reactive airway disease (RAD) in young children are subjective. We examined how often children were diagnosed with asthma versus RAD, and whether preventive care and 2-year clinical outcomes differed based on initial diagnosis.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of children (2-7 years) from a university-based general pediatrics practice who had been diagnosed with RAD or asthma. Read More

Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2021 11;65(5):521-531

Department of Pediatrics, The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles, Torrance, California.

Stem cells, including the resident lung mesenchymal stem cells (LMSCs), are critically important for injury repair. Compelling evidence links perinatal vitamin D (VD) deficiency to reactive airway disease; however, the effects of perinatal VD deficiency on LMSC function is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that perinatal VD deficiency alters LMSC proliferation, differentiation, and function, leading to an enhanced myogenic phenotype. Read More

Pediatr Pulmonol 2021 08 29;56(8):2676-2685. Epub 2021 Jun 29.

Department of Pediatric Pneumology and Allergology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany.

Although chest radiograph (CXR) is commonly used in diagnosing pediatric community acquired pneumonia (pCAP), limited data on interobserver agreement among radiologists exist. PedCAPNETZ is a prospective, observational, and multicenter study on pCAP. N = 233 CXR from patients with clinical diagnosis of pCAP were retrieved and n = 12 CXR without pathological findings were added. Read More

Arch Toxicol 2021 07 24;95(7):2469-2483. Epub 2021 May 24.

Division of Pulmonology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 667, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA.

Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is a devastating lung disease seen commonly after lung transplant, following severe respiratory tract infection or chemical inhalation exposure. Diacetyl (DA; 2,3-butanedione) is a highly reactive alpha-diketone known to cause BO when inhaled, however, the mechanisms of how inhalation exposure leads to BO development remains poorly understood. In the current work, we combined two clinically relevant models for studying the pathogenesis of DA-induced BO: (1) an in vivo rat model of repetitive DA vapor exposures with recovery and (2) an in vitro model of primary human airway epithelial cells exposed to pure DA vapors. Read More

Redox Biol 2021 07 30;43:101998. Epub 2021 Apr 30.

Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. Electronic address:

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) serves as the interface between gram-negative bacteria (GNB) and the innate immune response in respiratory epithelial cells (REC). Herein, we describe a novel biological role of LPS that permits GNB to persist in the respiratory tract through inducing CFTR and mucociliary dysfunction. LPS reduced cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulater (CFTR)-mediated short-circuit current in mammalian REC in Ussing chambers and nearly abrogated CFTR single channel activity (defined as forskolin-activated Cl currents) in patch clamp studies, effects of which were blocked with toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 inhibitor. Read More

J Clin Monit Comput 2021 Apr 29. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, 530 NE Glen Oak Ave., Peoria, IL, 61637, USA.

The use of clinical scoring to assess for severity of respiratory distress and respiratory failure is challenging due to subjectivity and interrater variability. Transcutaneous Capnography (TcpCO) can be used as an objective tool to assess a patient's ventilatory status. This study was designed to assess for any correlation of continuous monitoring of TcpCO with the respiratory clinical scores and deterioration in children admitted for acute respiratory distress. Read More

World J Pediatr 2021 Jun 16;17(3):298-304. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Newborn Medicine Division, The Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Maria Fareri Children's Hospital At Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, NY, USA.

Background: Genome wide association study identified hedgehog interacting protein gene (HHIP) variants with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Loss of HHIP, a key regulator of the hedgehog signaling pathway, leads to impaired lung morphogenesis and lethality in animal models, through unimpeded sonic hedgehog expression blocking mesenchymal-expressed fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10). Since bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is also associated with altered lung development and worsens with stimuli including mechanical ventilation, reactive oxygen species, and inflammation, HHIP and FGF10 may be candidate genes. Read More

Exp Ther Med 2021 Jun 2;21(6):585. Epub 2021 Apr 2.

Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, I-00161 Rome, Italy.

In the physiopathology of cystic fibrosis (CF), oxidative stress implications are recognized and widely accepted. The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) defects disrupt the intracellular redox balance causing CF pathological hallmarks. Therefore, oxidative stress together with aberrant expression levels of detoxification genes and microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) may be associated with clinical outcome. Read More

Pediatr Pulmonol 2021 06 3;56(6):1609-1616. Epub 2021 Mar 3.

Department of Neonatology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.

Objective: To describe the long-term (up to 18 years of age) respiratory outcomes of children and adolescents born at very low birth weight (VLBW; ≤1500 g) in comparison with that of children born >1500 g.

Methods: An observational, longitudinal, retrospective study comparing VLBW infants with matched controls, registered at a large health maintenance organization in Israel. Pulmonary outcomes collected anonymously from the electronic medical files included respiratory illness diagnoses, purchased medications for respiratory problems, office visits with either a pediatric pulmonologist or cardiologist and composite respiratory morbidity combining all these parameters. Read More

Pediatrics 2021 03 9;147(3). Epub 2021 Feb 9.

Departments of Pediatrics,

A previously healthy 15-year-old boy from a rural county in the southeastern United States was evaluated in the emergency department with fever and worsening toe pain in the absence of trauma. He initially presented to his primary care physician 4 weeks before with upper respiratory symptoms and was treated with corticosteroids for presumed reactive airway disease. His respiratory symptoms resolved. Read More

J Paediatr Child Health 2021 Feb 30;57(2):273-281. Epub 2020 Dec 30.

Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.

Aims: High-flow is increasingly used in children with acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF), despite limited evidence. The primary feasibility endpoint for this pilot-study was the proportion of treatment failure, secondary outcomes being intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and proportion of patients requiring escalation of care. We measured duration of hospital stay, duration of oxygen therapy and rates of ICU admission. Read More

Mediators Inflamm 2020 2;2020:1702935. Epub 2020 Dec 2.

Division of Allergy, Asthma, and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Guishan Dist., Taoyuan City 33303, Taiwan.

is a traditional folk herb used to improve inflammation and fever in Taiwan. Previous studies showed that extract could ameliorate lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice. The aim of this study was to investigate whether water (HZW) and ethyl acetate (HZE) extracts suppressed eosinophil infiltration and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in asthmatic mice, and decreased the inflammatory response and oxidative stress in tracheal epithelial cells. Read More

J Allergy Clin Immunol 2021 05 29;147(5):1936-1948.e9. Epub 2020 Oct 29.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Va. Electronic address:

Background: Nothing is known about the mechanisms by which increased ceramide levels in the lung contribute to allergic responses and asthma severity.

Objective: We sought to investigate the functional role of ceramide in mouse models of allergic airway disease that recapitulate the cardinal clinical features of human allergic asthma.

Methods: Allergic airway disease was induced in mice by repeated intranasal administration of house dust mite or the fungal allergen Alternaria alternata. Read More

World Allergy Organ J 2020 Oct 5;13(10):100467. Epub 2020 Oct 5.

INSERM U 1168, VIMA: Ageing and Chronic Diseases Epidemiological and Public Health Approaches, Villejuif, France.

Air pollution causes significant morbidity and mortality in patients with inflammatory airway diseases (IAD) such as allergic rhinitis (AR), chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Oxidative stress in patients with IAD can induce eosinophilic inflammation in the airways, augment atopic allergic sensitization, and increase susceptibility to infection. We reviewed emerging data depicting the involvement of oxidative stress in IAD patients. Read More