Effects of acetaldehyde on human airway constriction and inflammation

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of acetaldehyde on airway smooth muscle constriction and inflammation. An oral ethanol provocation test was performed in Japanese asthmatics to measure pulmonary function, blood ethanol, acetaldehyde and histamine. Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) genotype was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ethanol patch test. Human bronchi and mast cells were stimulated with acetaldehyde in vitro. Mite allergen-sensitized mice were inoculated with intranasal acetaldehyde. Approximately half the asthmatic subjects developed bronchoconstriction with concomitant increases in blood acetaldehyde and histamine, which was associated with genetically reducedALDH2 activities. In vitro acetaldehyde stimulation induces bronchoconstriction and degranulation of human mast cells. It also induced granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) production and nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB activation in human bronchi and increased mite allergen-sensitized allergic inflammation in a murine model of asthma. We conclude that acetaldehyde has potential effects on human airway by two distinct mechanisms. As a metabolite of alcohol, its elevation following alcohol consumption induces airway mast cells to release histamine, which results in exacerbation of asthma in susceptible populations. And as an air pollutant contained in cigarette smoke, for example, its inhalation potentially increases airway inflammation.

Subcutaneous hyalohyphomycosis caused by Acremonium recifei: case report

We present a case of subcutaneous hyalohyphomycosis due to Acremonium recifei, a species whose habitat is probably the soil, first identified in 1934 by Arêa Leão and Lobo in a case of podal eumycetoma with white-yellowish grains and initially named Cephalosporium recifei. A white immunocompetent female patient from the state of Bahia, Brazil, with a history of traumatic injury to the right hand is reported. The lesions was painless, with edema, inflammation and the presence of fistulae. Seropurulent secretion with the absence of grains was present. Histopathological examination of material stained with hematoxylin-eosin showed hyaline septate hyphae. A culture was positive for Acremonium recifei. Treatment with itraconazole, 200 mg/day, for two months led to a favorable course and cure of the process. We report for the first time in the literature a case of subcutaneous hyalohyphomycosis due to Acremonium recifei in a immunocompetent woman. Treatment with itraconazole 200 mg/day, for two months, resulted in cure.