XII AIST 2018 Conference: “The thousand faces of cough: clinical and therapeutic updates”

This paper summarizes the presentations submitted for publication of the 12th AIST National Congress (Associazione Italiana Studio Tosse/Italian Association for Cough Study) entitled “The thousand facets of cough. A clinical and therapeutic update”, which occurred last February 2nd-3rd, 2018 in Bologna (Italy). It summarizes the contributions from leading experts of the sector, who, as in the previous editions, also this year have analyzed a problem too often underestimated which still has many dark sides as regards both the diagnosis and the therapy of cough. The Scientific Committee has chosen topics that had less space in previous editions and these are topical subjects representing a concrete opportunity for learning and comparison of opinions, as well as indispensable elements for the correct management of the symptoms. Hereby we report the abstracts of the works submitted for publication in this Meeting report. The main topics have covered Cough relationship with nerve vagus, ATP, air pollution, GERD, imaging, COPD, pediatric and therapy. Of particular interest it is the preliminary data on cough hydration ratio that shows a highly significant correlation between dehydration and cough.

Detection of pepsin and IL-8 in saliva of adult asthmatic patients

Objective: Asthma and gastric reflux disease are widespread and often coexisting diseases with complex interactions, leading some to suspect that asthma symptoms of patients with reflux may improve with anti-reflux therapy. The objective of this study was to determine whether pepsin in saliva, indicative of airway reflux, could be detected in patients with asthma of varying severity and test the requirement of citric acid as a pepsin preservative. Methods: Saliva samples were collected in the clinic (with/without citric acid) and upon waking the following morning from 25 asthmatic patients. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed for pepsin and interleukin-8 (IL-8), an inflammatory cytokine induced by pepsin in other airway epithelia. Pepsin induction of IL-8 was tested in a lung epithelial cell culture model. Results: Pepsin was detected in saliva from 14/25 patients (56%; mean concentration of pepsin in specimens where observed ±SD =80.3±87.5 ng/mL); significant agreement was found between samples collected in the presence/absence of citric acid. No significant associations were found with pepsin and clinical measures of asthma severity. IL-8 was detected in saliva from 22/25 patients (88%; mean IL-8 in all specimens where observed =3.27±3.91 ng/mL). IL-8 was significantly upregulated in human lung epithelial cells exposed to pepsin at pH7 in vitro (P=0.041). Conclusion: In summary, more than half of the asthma patients in this study were found to have pepsin in their saliva, indicative of airway reflux. These data support the use of salivary pepsin as a noninvasive tool for future investigation of airway reflux in a larger cohort. The data further suggest that collection in citric acid as a sample preservative is not warranted and that pooling of multiple saliva samples collected at various timepoints may improve sensitivity of pepsin detection and reduce costs incurred by multiple sample analysis in future studies.

XII AIST 2018 Conference: “The thousand faces of cough: clinical and therapeutic updates”

This paper summarizes the presentations submitted for publication of the 12^th AIST National Congress (Associazione Italiana Studio Tosse/Italian Association for Cough Study) entitled “The thousand facets of cough. A clinical and therapeutic update”, which occurred last February 2^nd-3^rd, 2018 in Bologna (Italy). It summarizes the contributions from leading experts of the sector, who, as in the previous editions, also this year have analyzed a problem too often underestimated which still has many dark sides as regards both the diagnosis and the therapy of cough. The Scientific Committee has chosen topics that had less space in previous editions and these are topical subjects representing a concrete opportunity for learning and comparison of opinions, as well as indispensable elements for the correct management of the symptoms.

Hereby we report the abstracts of the works submitted for publication in this Meeting report.

The main topics have covered Cough relationship with nerve vagus, ATP, air pollution, GERD, imaging, COPD, pediatric and therapy. Of particular interest it is the preliminary data on cough hydration ratio that shows a highly significant correlation between dehydration and cough.

Laryngeal epithelial defenses against laryngopharyngeal reflux: investigations of E-cadherin, carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme III, and pepsin

OBJECTIVES

This is the third annual report of an international research network studying the cellular impact of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) on laryngeal epithelium. The objective of this study was to investigate the presence of E-cadherin (epithelial cadherin; the intercellular junctional complex protein) in relation to the presence of (intracellular) pepsin and carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme III (CAIII).

METHODS

Fifty-four laryngeal biopsy specimens from 18 LPR patients were studied by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting for pepsin, E-cadherin, and CAIII. These data were compared to those from normal control subjects analyzed in another research study.

RESULTS

Intracellular pepsin was detected in LPR patients, but not in controls. E-cadherin expression was reduced in patients with LPR. Carbonic anhydrase III expression was not found in the vocal fold or in the majority of samples taken from the ventricle of LPR patients and was inversely associated with E-cadherin membranous expression.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of depleted E-cadherin and CAIII and the presence of pepsin appear to correlate with LPR. The reduced protective response indicated by the reduced expression of CAIII may play an important role in the disruption of the intercellular barrier associated with the down-regulation of E-cadherin.

Pepsin and Carbonic Anhydrase Isoenzyme III as Diagnostic Markers for Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS

The objective was to investigate the potential use of pepsin and carbonic anhydrase isoenzyme III (CA-III) as diagnostic markers for laryngopharyngeal reflux disease.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective cell biological investigation was conducted of laryngeal biopsy specimens taken from 9 patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease and 12 normal control subjects using antibodies specific for human pepsin (produced in the authors' laboratory within the Department of Otolaryngology at Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC) and CA-III.

METHODS

Laryngeal biopsy specimens were frozen in liquid nitrogen for Western blot analysis and fixed in formalin for pepsin immunohistochemical study. Specimens between two groups (patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease and control subjects) were compared for the presence of pepsin. Further analyses investigated the correlation between pepsin, CA-III depletion, and pH testing data.

RESULTS

Analysis revealed that the level of pepsin was significantly different between the two groups (P < .001). Secondary analyses demonstrated that presence of pepsin correlated with CA-III depletion in the laryngeal vocal fold and ventricle (P < .001) and with pH testing data in individuals with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease.

CONCLUSION

Pepsin was detected in 8 of 9 patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease, but not in normal control subjects (0 of 12). The presence of pepsin was associated with CA-III depletion in the laryngeal vocal fold and ventricle. Given the correlation between laryngopharyngeal reflux disease and CA-III depletion, it is highly plausible that CA-III depletion, as a result of pepsin exposure during laryngopharyngeal reflux, predisposes laryngeal mucosa to reflux-related inflammatory damage.

Vocal fold scarring: current concepts and management

Scarring of the vocal folds can occur as the result of blunt laryngeal trauma or, more commonly, as the result of surgical, iatrogenic injury after excision or removal of vocal fold lesions. The scarring results in replacement of healthy tissue by fibrous tissue and can irrevocably alter vocal fold function and lead to a decreased or absent vocal fold mucosal wave. The assessment and treatment of persistent dysphonia in patients with vocal fold scarring presents both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to the voice treatment team. The common causes of vocal fold scarring are described, and prevention of vocal fold injury during removal of vocal fold lesions is stressed. The anatomic and histologic basis for the subsequent alterations in voice production and contemporary modalities for clinical and objective assessment will be discussed. Treatment options will be reviewed, including nonsurgical treatment and voice therapy, collagen injection, fat augmentation, endoscopic laryngoplasty, and Silastic medialization.