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Grossman NL, Ortega VE, King TS, Bleecker ER, Ampleford EA, Bacharier LB, Cabana MD, Cardet JC, Carr TF, Castro M, Denlinger LC, Denson JL, Fandino N, Fitzpatrick AM, Hawkins GA, Holguin F, Krishnan JA, Lazarus SC, Nyenhuis SM, Phipatanakul W, Ramratnam SK, Wenzel S, Peters SP, Meyers DA, Wechsler ME, Israel E. Exacerbation-prone asthma in the context of race and ancestry in Asthma Clinical Research Network trials. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2019; 144:1524-1533. [PMID: 31520679 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2019.08.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2019] [Revised: 07/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Minority groups of African descent experience disproportionately greater asthma morbidity compared with other racial groups, suggesting that genetic variation from a common ancestry could influence exacerbation risk. OBJECTIVE We evaluated clinical trial measures in the context of self-reported race and genetic ancestry to identify risk factors for asthma exacerbations. METHODS One thousand eight hundred forty multiethnic subjects from 12 Asthma Clinical Research Network and AsthmaNet trials were analyzed for incident asthma exacerbations with Poisson regression models that included clinical measures, self-reported race (black, non-Hispanic white, and other), and estimates of global genetic African ancestry in a subgroup (n = 760). RESULTS Twenty-four percent of 1840 subjects self-identified as black. Black and white subjects had common risk factors for exacerbations, including a history of 2 or more exacerbations in the previous year and FEV1 percent predicted values, whereas chronic sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease were only associated with increased exacerbation risk in black subjects. In the combined multiethnic cohort, neither race (P = .30) nor percentage of genetic African ancestry as a continuous variable associated with exacerbation risk (adjusted rate ratio [RR], 1.26 [95% CI, 0.94-1.70; P = .13]; RR per 1-SD change [32% ancestry], 0.97 [95% CI, 0.78-1.19; P = .74]). However, in 161 black subjects with genetic data, those with African ancestry greater than the median (≥82%) had a significantly greater risk of exacerbation (RR, 3.06 [95% CI, 1.09-8.6; P = .03]). CONCLUSION Black subjects have unique risk factors for asthma exacerbations, of which global African genetic ancestry had the strongest effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole L Grossman
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington, Mass
| | - Victor E Ortega
- Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC.
| | - Tonya S King
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine, Hershey, Pa
| | - Eugene R Bleecker
- Department of Medicine, Division of Genetics, Genomics, and Precision Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Ariz
| | | | - Leonard B Bacharier
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonary Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Mo
| | - Michael D Cabana
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
| | - Juan C Cardet
- Deparment of Internal Medicine, Divison of Allergy and Immunology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Fla
| | - Tara F Carr
- Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
| | - Mario Castro
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City, Kan
| | - Loren C Denlinger
- Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison, Wis
| | - Joshua L Denson
- Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, Colo
| | - Nicolas Fandino
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass
| | | | - Gregory A Hawkins
- Department of Biochemistry, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC
| | - Fernando Holguin
- Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver, Colo
| | - Jerry A Krishnan
- Department of Medicine, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago, Ill
| | - Stephen C Lazarus
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif
| | - Sharmilee M Nyenhuis
- Department of Medicine, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, Chicago, Ill
| | - Wanda Phipatanakul
- Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass
| | - Sima K Ramratnam
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison, Wis
| | - Sally Wenzel
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa
| | - Stephen P Peters
- Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC
| | - Deborah A Meyers
- Department of Medicine, Division of Genetics, Genomics, and Precision Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Ariz
| | - Michael E Wechsler
- Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, Colo
| | - Elliot Israel
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass
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Grossman NL, Doros GD, Fandino N, Fuhlbrigge AL, Pace WD, Wechsler ME, Yawn BP, Israel E. Susceptibility to exacerbations in Black adults with asthma. J Asthma 2018; 56:704-710. [PMID: 29969928 DOI: 10.1080/02770903.2018.1486855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Exacerbations account for much of the morbidity in asthma. In a large intervention study, we sought to test the hypothesis that a Black adult exacerbation-prone phenotype - a group of Black people with asthma who are at high risk of repeat exacerbation within one year - exists in asthma independent of clinical control. METHODS We analyzed exacerbation risk factors in 536 self-identified Black Americans with asthma eligible for, or on, Step 3 National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) therapy who participated in a randomized 6-18 month trial of tiotropium versus long acting beta agonist as add-on therapy to inhaled corticosteroids. Exacerbations were defined as events treated by oral or systemic corticosteroids. Clinical control was assessed by a validated asthma control questionnaire (ACQ5). RESULTS Exacerbations became more likely with loss of clinical control. The mean baseline ACQs for exacerbators and non-exacerbators were 2.41 and 1.91, respectively (p < 0.001). The strongest independent factor associated with exacerbations across all ACQ levels was an exacerbation in the preceding year (adjusted OR 3.26; p < 0.001). The severity of prior exacerbations did not correlate with the likelihood of a future exacerbation. Lower baseline FEV1/FVC was also associated with increased risk of exacerbations. CONCLUSIONS Even though exacerbations increase with loss of clinical control, an exacerbation susceptibility phenotype exists in Black adults with asthma, independent of clinical control. This phenotype requires precision therapeutic targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Wilson D Pace
- e American Academy of Family Physicians , Shawnee Mission , KS , USA
| | | | - Barbara P Yawn
- g Department of Family and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Rochester , Minneapolis , MN , USA
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Ricklefs I, Barkas I, Duvall MG, Cernadas M, Grossman NL, Israel E, Bleecker ER, Castro M, Erzurum SC, Fahy JV, Gaston BM, Denlinger LC, Mauger DT, Wenzel SE, Comhair SA, Coverstone AM, Fajt ML, Hastie AT, Johansson MW, Peters MC, Phillips BR, Levy BD. ALX receptor ligands define a biochemical endotype for severe asthma. JCI Insight 2018; 3:120932. [PMID: 29563345 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.120932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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Ricklefs I, Barkas I, Duvall MG, Cernadas M, Grossman NL, Israel E, Bleecker ER, Castro M, Erzurum SC, Fahy JV, Gaston BM, Denlinger LC, Mauger DT, Wenzel SE, Comhair SA, Coverstone AM, Fajt ML, Hastie AT, Johansson MW, Peters MC, Phillips BR, Levy BD. ALX receptor ligands define a biochemical endotype for severe asthma. JCI Insight 2017; 2:93534. [PMID: 28724795 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.93534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Accepted: 06/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In health, inflammation resolution is an active process governed by specialized proresolving mediators and receptors. ALX/FPR2 receptors (ALX) are targeted by both proresolving and proinflammatory ligands for opposing signaling events, suggesting pivotal roles for ALX in the fate of inflammatory responses. Here, we determined if ALX expression and ligands were linked to severe asthma (SA). METHODS ALX expression and levels of proresolving ligands (lipoxin A4 [LXA4], 15-epi-LXA4, and annexin A1 [ANXA1]), and a proinflammatory ligand (serum amyloid A [SAA]) were measured in bronchoscopy samples collected in Severe Asthma Research Program-3 (SA [n = 69], non-SA [NSA, n = 51] or healthy donors [HDs, n = 47]). RESULTS Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid LXA4 and 15-epi-LXA4 were decreased and SAA was increased in SA relative to NSA. BAL macrophage ALX expression was increased in SA. Subjects with LXA4loSAAhi levels had increased BAL neutrophils, more asthma symptoms, lower lung function, increased relative risk for asthma exacerbation, sinusitis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease, and were assigned more frequently to SA clinical clusters. SAA and aliquots of LXA4loSAAhi BAL fluid induced IL-8 production by lung epithelial cells expressing ALX receptors, which was inhibited by coincubation with 15-epi-LXA4. CONCLUSIONS Together, these findings have established an association between select ALX receptor ligands and asthma severity that define a potentially new biochemical endotype for asthma and support a pivotal functional role for ALX signaling in the fate of lung inflammation. TRIAL REGISTRATION Severe Asthma Research Program-3 (SARP-3; ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01606826)FUNDING Sources. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the NIH, and the German Society of Pediatric Pneumology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabell Ricklefs
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and
| | - Ioanna Barkas
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and
| | - Melody G Duvall
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and.,Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Manuela Cernadas
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and
| | - Nicole L Grossman
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and
| | - Elliot Israel
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and
| | - Eugene R Bleecker
- Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine Research, School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
| | - Mario Castro
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Serpil C Erzurum
- Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - John V Fahy
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, UCSF, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Benjamin M Gaston
- Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Loren C Denlinger
- Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - David T Mauger
- Division of Statistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Sally E Wenzel
- Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Suzy A Comhair
- Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
| | - Andrea M Coverstone
- Division of Allergy, Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Merritt L Fajt
- Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Annette T Hastie
- Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine Research, School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
| | - Mats W Johansson
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Michael C Peters
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, UCSF, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Brenda R Phillips
- Division of Statistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Bruce D Levy
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and
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Duvall MG, Barnig C, Cernadas M, Ricklefs I, Krishnamoorthy N, Grossman NL, Bhakta NR, Fahy JV, Bleecker ER, Castro M, Erzurum SC, Gaston BM, Jarjour NN, Mauger DT, Wenzel SE, Comhair SA, Coverstone AM, Fajt ML, Hastie AT, Johansson MW, Peters MC, Phillips BR, Israel E, Levy BD. Natural killer cell-mediated inflammation resolution is disabled in severe asthma. Sci Immunol 2017; 2:2/9/eaam5446. [PMID: 28783702 DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aam5446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2016] [Accepted: 01/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Severe asthma is typically characterized by chronic airway inflammation that is refractory to corticosteroids and associated with excess morbidity. Patients were recruited into the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-sponsored Severe Asthma Research Program and comprehensively phenotyped by bronchoscopy. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Compared with healthy individuals (n = 21), patients with asthma (n = 53) had fewer BAL natural killer (NK) cells. Patients with severe asthma (n = 29) had a marked increase in the ratios of CD4+ T cells to NK cells and neutrophils to NK cells. BAL NK cells in severe asthma were skewed toward the cytotoxic CD56dim subset, with significantly increased BAL fluid levels of the cytotoxic mediator granzyme A. The numbers of BAL CD56dim NK cells and CCR6-CCR4- T helper 1-enriched CD4+ T cells correlated inversely with lung function [forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) % predicted] in asthma. Relative to cells from healthy controls, peripheral blood NK cells from asthmatic patients had impaired killing of K562 myeloid target cells despite releasing more cytotoxic mediators. Ex vivo exposure to dexamethasone markedly decreased blood NK cell lysis of target cells and cytotoxic mediator release. NK cells expressed airway lipoxin A4/formyl peptide receptor 2 receptors, and in contrast to dexamethasone, lipoxin A4-exposed NK cells had preserved functional responses. Together, our findings indicate that the immunology of the severe asthma airway is characterized by decreased NK cell cytotoxicity with increased numbers of target leukocytes, which is exacerbated by corticosteroids that further disable NK cell function. These failed resolution mechanisms likely contribute to persistent airway inflammation in severe asthma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melody G Duvall
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Cindy Barnig
- Department of Chest Diseases, University Hospital of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Manuela Cernadas
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Isabell Ricklefs
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Nandini Krishnamoorthy
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Nicole L Grossman
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Nirav R Bhakta
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - John V Fahy
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Eugene R Bleecker
- Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine Research, School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA
| | - Mario Castro
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Serpil C Erzurum
- Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
| | - Benjamin M Gaston
- Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Nizar N Jarjour
- Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53792, USA
| | - David T Mauger
- Division of Statistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
| | - Sally E Wenzel
- Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Suzy A Comhair
- Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
| | - Andrea M Coverstone
- Division of Allergy, Immunology and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Merritt L Fajt
- Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Annette T Hastie
- Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine Research, School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA
| | - Mats W Johansson
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Michael C Peters
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine and the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Brenda R Phillips
- Division of Statistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
| | - Elliot Israel
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Bruce D Levy
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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Grossman NL, Fiack CA, Weinberg JM, Rybin DV, Farber HW. Pulmonary hypertension associated with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: acute hemodynamic effects of inhaled iloprost. Pulm Circ 2015; 5:198-203. [PMID: 25992282 DOI: 10.1086/679725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2014] [Accepted: 07/31/2014] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Iloprost, an inhaled synthetic prostacyclin analogue, improves hemodynamic and clinical status with minimal systemic adversity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Our single-site, prospective case series aimed to determine the effects of iloprost in subjects with group 2 pulmonary hypertension and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Patients referred to Boston Medical Center for initial evaluation of suspected pulmonary hypertension received a test dose of 2.5 μg inhaled iloprost, followed by two subsequent doses of 5 μg. Hemodynamic measurements were recorded for each inhalation after 15, 30, 60, and 90 minutes. Results were analyzed via paired t test and signed-rank test. Eight subjects fulfilled criteria and elected to enter the study. There was a reduction of pulmonary arterial pressure (by an average of 7.0 mmHg [P = 0.005] and 4.7 mmHg [P = 0.021] with the first and second 5-μg inhalations, respectively) and pulmonary vascular resistance (by an average of 161.9 dyn·s/cm(5) [P = 0.019] and 95.0 dyn·s/cm(5) [P = 0.014] with the first and second 5-μg inhalations, respectively). There were trends for increased cardiac output and decreased oxygen saturation. There were no changes in other vital or hemodynamic parameters, including pulmonary capillary wedge pressure. All patients completed each cycle of iloprost administration without preestablished termination criteria. In patients with pulmonary hypertension and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, inhaled iloprost resulted in acute reduction of pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance. Further evaluation of iloprost in this subset of patients is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole L Grossman
- Pulmonary Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Christopher A Fiack
- Pulmonary Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Janice M Weinberg
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Denis V Rybin
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Harrison W Farber
- Pulmonary Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Cossairt JD, Grossman NL, Marshall ET. Assessment of dose equivalent due to neutrinos. Health Phys 1997; 73:894-898. [PMID: 9373066 DOI: 10.1097/00004032-199712000-00002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Neutrinos are present in the natural environment and are also produced by particle accelerators. A recent hypothesis has also been proposed that asserts that ionizing radiation due to neutrinos from certain astronomical events may have led to the extinction of some biological species. Thus, it is of interest to be able to estimate the dose equivalent due to these weakly interacting particles. Presented here are methods for estimating the dose equivalent due to neutrinos over a broad domain of energy, examples of such calculations, and an assessment of the postulated role of neutrinos in biological extinctions. It is concluded that the dose equivalent due to neutrinos from natural sources and from present-day accelerators is inconsequential and the postulated role of neutrinos in biological extinctions is highly improbable.
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Affiliation(s)
- J D Cossairt
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
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