Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Alcohol Drives Oxidation-Dependent Desensitization Of Airway Cilia Motility Responsiveness, Michael Price

Theses & Dissertations

Alcohol abuse, which can impair clearance of pathogens and debris from the airway, is associated with an increase in complications and a higher mortality rate during the progression of pneumonia. With prolonged alcohol exposure, mucociliary clearance (MCC), which depends on the coordinated beating of cilia, is dysfunctional. Effective MCC relies on cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) activation of ciliary beat frequency (CBF). PKA activation and stimulation of CBF are blunted with chronic exposure to alcohol. This phenomenon is known as alcohol-induced ciliary dysfunction (AICD). Previous studies have shown that concomitant feeding of mice with alcohol and antioxidants prevents AICD, suggesting a …

Investigation Of Reactive Oxygen Species Production In The Rat Lung Using Optical Imaging, Nina Friedly

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Oxidative stress, the imbalance between production of oxidants or reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant activity, plays a key role in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic lung diseases. The objective of this thesis was to develop a robust protocol for measuring the rate of H2O2 production in isolated perfused rat lungs and to determine the cellular sources of that rate using Amplex Red (AR). For a given lung, AR (25 mM) along with horseradish peroxidase (5 U/ml) and ascorbate oxidase (1U/ml) were added to a perfusate reservoir that was recirculated through the lungs and sampled at 5 minute intervals …

Validation Of An Algorithm Allowing Identification Of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax Cases From Administrative Databases, Eric Frechette

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Introduction: There is no differentiation between primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) and secondary pneumothorax (SP) in the current version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Objective: To validate the accuracy of an algorithm that identifies cases of PSP from administrative databases. Methods: The charts of 150 patients who attended the emergency room (ER) with a recorded main diagnosis of pneumothorax were reviewed. The corresponding hospital administrative data collected during previous hospitalizations and ER visits were processed through the proposed algorithm. The results were compared over two different age groups. Results: The results obtained from the PSP algorithm demonstrated a significantly …

Antibiotic Therapy In Preventing Exacerbations Of Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Jamie Trautner

Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Papers

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that has no cure but is treatable. The treatment goal is to have adequate symptom control, decreased exacerbations, prevent hospitalizations and maintain an independent quality of life. The above are attainable by lifestyle changes and pharmacotherapy. The review of literature is to determine if the benefits of long-term antimicrobial therapy outweigh the risks in the treatment of severe COPD. The search included PubMed, Cochrane and Clinical Key databases. Keywords searched include: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, antibiotics, macrolides, antibacterial, azithromycin, bronchodilators, standard therapy, COPD exacerbations, adverse effects, and long-term. The gold standard …

Decreased Mortality Of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension In Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy And Down Syndrome, Mitchell Volin

Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Papers

The genetic cause of significant disorders like Down syndrome (DS) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is well documented. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a co-morbid condition, is tied to mortality among these groups. If undetected or untreated, in DS, this condition can lead to complications with coronary and lung disease later in life. If undetected or untreated in DMD it can hasten the inevitable prognosis of the disease. Individuals with the ability to communicate their symptoms and actively participate in treatment are at an advantage with subsequent benefit. DS and DMD significantly decrease physical ability and communication capacity.

Genetic research has …