Publications
743 results found
Antunes KH, Singanayagam A, Williams L, et al., 2023, Airway-delivered short-chain fatty acid acetate boosts antiviral immunity during rhinovirus infection., J Allergy Clin Immunol, Vol: 151, Pages: 447-457.e5
BACKGROUND: Microbiota are recognized to play a major role in regulation of immunity through release of immunomodulatory metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Rhinoviruses (RVs) induce upper respiratory tract illnesses and precipitate exacerbations of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease through poorly understood mechanisms. Local interactions between SCFAs and antiviral immune responses in the respiratory tract have not been previously investigated. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate whether pulmonary metabolite manipulation through lung-delivered administration of SCFAs can modulate antiviral immunity to RV infection. METHODS: We studied the effects of intranasal administration of the SCFAs acetate, butyrate, and propionate on basal expression of antiviral signatures, and of acetate in a mouse model of RV infection and in RV-infected lung epithelial cell lines. We additionally assessed the effects of acetate, butyrate, and propionate on RV infection in differentiated human primary bronchial epithelial cells. RESULTS: Intranasal acetate administration induced basal upregulation of IFN-β, an effect not observed with other SCFAs. Butyrate induced RIG-I expression. Intranasal acetate treatment of mice increased interferon-stimulated gene and IFN-λ expression during RV infection and reduced lung virus loads at 8 hours postinfection. Acetate ameliorated virus-induced proinflammatory responses with attenuated pulmonary mucin and IL-6 expression observed at day 4 and 6 postinfection. This interferon-enhancing effect of acetate was confirmed in human bronchial and alveolar epithelial cell lines. In differentiated primary bronchial epithelial cells, butyrate treatment better modulated IFN-β and IFN-λ gene expression during RV infection. CONCLUSIONS: SCFAs augment antiviral immunity and reduce virus load and proinflammatory responses during RV infection.
Farne H, Glanville N, Johnson N, et al., 2022, Effect of CRTH2 antagonism on the response to experimental rhinovirus infection in asthma: a pilot randomized controlled trial, Thorax, Vol: 77, Pages: 950-959, ISSN: 0040-6376
Background and aimsThe CRTH2 antagonist timapiprant improved lung function and asthma control in a phase 2 study, with evidence suggesting reduced exacerbations. We aimed to assess whether timapiprant attenuated or prevented asthma exacerbations induced by experimental rhinovirus (RV) infection. We furthermore hypothesized that timapiprant would dampen RV-induced type 2 inflammation and consequently improve antiviral immune responses.MethodsAtopic patients with partially controlled asthma on maintenance inhaled corticosteroids were randomized to timapiprant (n=22) or placebo (n=22) and challenged with RV-A16 three weeks later. The primary endpoint was the cumulative lower respiratory symptom score over the 14 days post-infection. Upper respiratory symptoms, spirometry, airway hyperresponsiveness, exhaled nitric oxide, RV-A16 virus load and soluble mediators in upper and lower airways samples, and CRTH2 staining in bronchial biopsies were additionally assessed before and during RV-A16 infection.ResultsSix subjects discontinued the study and eight were not infected; outcomes were assessed in 16 timapiprant- and 14 placebo-treated, successfully infected subjects. There were no differences between treatment groups in clinical exacerbation severity including cumulative lower respiratory symptom score day 0-14 (difference 3.0 (95% CI -29.0 to 17.0), P=0.78), virus load, antiviral immune responses, or RV-A16-induced airway inflammation other than in the bronchial biopsies, where CRTH2 staining was increased during RV-A16 infection in the placebo- but not the timapiprant-treated group. Timapiprant had a favourable safety profile, with no deaths, serious adverse events, or drug-related withdrawals.ConclusionTimapiprant treatment had little impact on the clinicopathological changes induced by RV-A16 infection in partially controlled asthma.
Bruno N, Singanayagam A, Farne HA, et al., 2022, G-CSF drives pathophysiology of RV-induced allergic asthma exacerbations by potentiating neutrophilic inflammation and ILC2 function, Publisher: EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD, ISSN: 0903-1936
Farne H, Lin L, Jackson D, et al., 2022, In vivo bronchial epithelial interferon responses are augmented in asthma on day 4 following experimental rhinovirus infection, Thorax, Vol: 77, Pages: 929-932, ISSN: 0040-6376
Despite good evidence of impaired innate antiviral responses in asthma, trials of inhaled interferon-β given during exacerbations showed only modest benefits in moderate/severe asthma. Using human experimental rhinovirus infection, we observe robust in vivo induction of bronchial epithelial interferon response genes four days after virus inoculation in 25 subjects with asthma but not 11 control subjects. This signature correlated with virus loads and lower respiratory symptoms. Our data indicate that the in vivo innate antiviral response is dysregulated in asthma and open up the potential that prophylactic rather than therapeutic interferon therapy may have greater clinical benefit.
Lin L, Curtin JA, Regis E, et al., 2022, A systems immunology approach to investigate cytokine responses to viruses and bacteria and their association with disease, SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, Vol: 12, ISSN: 2045-2322
Kolev E, Mircheva L, Edwards MR, et al., 2022, Echinacea Purpurea For the Long-Term Prevention of Viral Respiratory Tract Infections During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Randomized, Open, Controlled, Exploratory Clinical Study, FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY, Vol: 13
Cameron A, Dhariwal J, Upton N, et al., 2022, Type I conventional dendritic cells relate to disease severity in virus-induced asthma exacerbations., Clin Exp Allergy, Vol: 52, Pages: 550-560
RATIONALE: Rhinoviruses are the major precipitant of asthma exacerbations and individuals with asthma experience more severe/prolonged rhinovirus infections. Concurrent viral infection and allergen exposure synergistically increase exacerbation risk. Although dendritic cells orchestrate immune responses to both virus and allergen, little is known about their role in viral asthma exacerbations. OBJECTIVES: To characterize dendritic cell populations present in the lower airways, and to assess whether their numbers are altered in asthma compared to healthy subjects prior to infection and during rhinovirus-16 infection. METHODS: Moderately-severe atopic asthmatic patients and healthy controls were experimentally infected with rhinovirus-16. Bronchoalveolar lavage was collected at baseline, day 3 and day 8 post infection and dendritic cells isolated using fluorescence activated cell sorting. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Numbers of type I conventional dendritic cells, which cross prime CD8+ T helper cells and produce innate interferons, were significantly reduced in the lower airways of asthma patients compared to healthy controls at baseline. This reduction was associated serum IgE at baseline and with reduced numbers of CD8+ T helper cells and with increased viral replication, airway eosinophils and reduced lung function during infection. IgE receptor expression on lower airway plasmacytoid dendritic cells was significantly increased in asthma, consistent with a reduced capacity to produce innate interferons. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced numbers of anti-viral type I conventional dendritic cells in asthma are associated with adverse outcomes during rhinovirus infection. This, with increased FcεR1α expression on lower airway plasmacytoid DCs could mediate the more permissive respiratory viral infection observed in asthma patients.
Barbaud A, Garvey LH, Arcolaci A, et al., 2022, Allergies and COVID-19 vaccines: An ENDA/EAACI Position paper, ALLERGY, Vol: 77, Pages: 2292-2312, ISSN: 0105-4538
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- Citations: 20
Singanayagam A, Footitt J, Marczynski M, et al., 2022, Airway mucins promote immunopathology in virus-exacerbated chronic obstructive pulmonary disease., Journal of Clinical Investigation, Vol: 132, Pages: 1-16, ISSN: 0021-9738
The respiratory tract surface is protected from inhaled pathogens by a secreted layer of mucus rich in mucin glycoproteins. Abnormal mucus accumulation is a cardinal feature of chronic respiratory diseases but the relationship between mucus and pathogens during exacerbations is poorly understood. We identified elevations in airway MUC5AC and MUC5B concentrations during spontaneous and experimentally-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations. MUC5AC was more sensitive to changes in expression during exacerbation and was therefore more predictably associated with virus load, inflammation, symptom severity, decrements in lung function, and secondary bacterial infections. MUC5AC was functionally related to inflammation as Muc5ac-deficient (Muc5ac-/-) mice had attenuated rhinovirus (RV)-induced airway inflammation and exogenous MUC5AC glycoprotein administration augmented inflammatory responses and increased release of extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in mice and human airway epithelial cell cultures. Hydrolysis of ATP suppressed MUC5AC augmentation of rhinovirus-induced inflammation in mice. Therapeutic suppression of mucin production using an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antagonist ameliorated immunopathology in a mouse COPD exacerbation model. The coordinated virus induction of MUC5AC and MUC5B suggests that non-Th2 mechanisms trigger mucin hypersecretion during exacerbations. Our data identifies a pro-inflammatory role for MUC5AC during viral infection and suggest that MUC5AC inhibition may ameliorate COPD exacerbations.
Makrinioti H, Hasegawa K, Lakoumentas J, et al., 2022, The role of respiratory syncytial virus- and rhinovirus-induced bronchiolitis in recurrent wheeze and asthma-A systematic review and meta-analysis, PEDIATRIC ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY, Vol: 33, ISSN: 0905-6157
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- Citations: 12
Mikus MS, Kolmert J, Andersson L, et al., 2022, Plasma proteins elevated in severe asthma despite oral steroid use and unrelated to Type-2 inflammation, European Respiratory Journal, Vol: 59, Pages: 1-17, ISSN: 0903-1936
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. Effects of oral corticosteroids (OCS) were determined by a 2-week, placebo-controlled OCS trial in BIOAIR, and confirmed by relation to objective OCS measures in U-BIOPRED.Results In U-BIOPRED, 110 proteins were significantly different, mostly elevated, in SA compared to MMA and HCs. 10 proteins were elevated in SA versus MMA in both U-BIOPRED and BIOAIR (alpha-1-antichymotrypsin, apolipoprotein-E, complement component 9, complement factor I, macrophage inflammatory protein-3, interleukin-6, sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase 3, TNF receptor superfamily member 11a, transforming growth factor-β and glutathione S-transferase). OCS treatment decreased most proteins, yet differences between SA and MMA remained following correction for OCS use. Consensus clustering of U-BIOPRED protein data yielded six clusters associated with asthma control, quality of life, blood neutrophils, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and body mass index, but not Type-2 inflammatory biomarkers. The mast cell specific enzyme carboxypeptidase A3 was one major contributor to cluster differentiation.Conclusions The plasma proteomic panel revealed previously unexplored yet potentially useful Type-2-independent biomarkers and validated several proteins with established involvement in the pathophysiology of SA.
Finotto S, Jartti T, Johnston SL, 2022, Editorial: Type I and Type III Interferon Immune Responses in Asthma, FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY, Vol: 12, ISSN: 1664-3224
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- Citations: 1
Philip K, Buttery S, Williams P, et al., 2022, Impact of COVID-19 on people with asthma: A mixed methods analysis from a UK wide survey, BMJ Open Respiratory Research, Vol: 9, ISSN: 2052-4439
Introduction: The impact of acute COVID-19 on people with asthma appears complex, being moderated by multiple interacting disease-specific, demographic and environmental factors. Research regarding longer-term effects in this group is limited. We aimed to assess impacts of COVID-19 and predictors of persistent symptoms, in people with asthma.Methods: Using data from an online UK-wide survey of 4500 people with asthma (median age 50–59 years, 81% female), conducted in October 2020, we undertook a mixed methods analysis of the characteristics and experience of those reporting having had COVID-19.Results: The COVID-19 group (n=471, 10.5%) reported increased inhaler use and worse asthma management, compared with those not reporting COVID-19, but did not differ by gender, ethnicity or household income. Among the COVID-19 group, 56.1% reported having long COVID, 20.2% were ‘unsure’. Those with long COVID were more likely than those without long COVID to describe: their breathing as worse or much worse after their initial illness (73.7% vs 34.8%, p<0.001), increased inhaler use (67.8% vs 34.8%, p<0.001) and worse or much worse asthma management (59.6% vs 25.6%, p<0.001). Having long COVID was not associated with age, gender, ethnicity, UK nation or household income.Analysis of free text survey responses identified three key themes: (1) variable COVID-19 severity, duration and recovery; (2) symptom overlap and interaction between COVID-19 and asthma; (3) barriers to accessing healthcare.Conclusions: Persisting symptoms are common in people with asthma following COVID-19. Measures are needed to ensure appropriate healthcare access including clinical evaluation and investigation, to distinguish between COVID-19 symptoms and asthma.
Dhariwal J, Padayachee Y, Johnston SL, 2022, Respiratory viruses and eosinophilic airway inflammation, ERS Monograph, Vol: 2022, Pages: 204-218, ISSN: 2312-508X
Eosinophils are widely acknowledged as key cells in driving type 2 immune responses against parasitic infection and in mediating allergic disease. Advances in our understanding have suggested that eosinophils may play an important additional role in the host immune response against a range of respiratory virus infections in both health and disease. Eosinophils exert these effects through a diverse range of mechanisms spanning innate and adaptive immunity, including immune sensing via Toll-like receptors, acting as antigen-presenting cells and the secretion of potent antiviral molecules. Recent evidence that anti-IL-5/IL-5 receptor therapies markedly reduce asthma exacerbations in those with activated eosinophilic pathways indicates that eosinophils clearly play an important role in asthma exacerbation pathogenesis. The mechanisms of viral exacerbations in patients treated with biologics are not yet fully understood and further work is needed to assess the impact of eosinophil depletion in this patient cohort.
Jansen K, Satitsuksanoa P, Wirz OF, et al., 2021, T regulatory cells from atopic asthmatic individuals show a Th2-like phenotype, ALLERGY, Vol: 77, Pages: 1320-1324, ISSN: 0105-4538
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- Citations: 6
Regis E, Fontanella S, Lin L, et al., 2021, Sex differences in innate anti-viral immune responses to respiratory viruses and in their clinical outcomes in a birth cohort study, Scientific Reports, Vol: 11, Pages: 1-15, ISSN: 2045-2322
The mechanisms explaining excess morbidity and mortality in respiratory infections among males are poorly understood. Innate immune responses are critical in protection against respiratory virus infections. We hypothesised that innate immune responses to respiratory viruses may be deficient in males. We stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 345 participants at age 16 years in a population-based birth cohort with three live respiratory viruses (rhinoviruses A16 and A1, and respiratory syncytial virus) and two viral mimics (R848 and CpG-A, to mimic responses to SARS-CoV-2) and investigated sex differences in interferon (IFN) responses. IFN-α responses to all viruses and stimuli were 1.34–2.06-fold lower in males than females (P = 0.018 − < 0.001). IFN-β, IFN-γ and IFN-induced chemokines were also deficient in males across all stimuli/viruses. Healthcare records revealed 12.1% of males and 6.6% of females were hospitalized with respiratory infections in infancy (P = 0.017). In conclusion, impaired innate anti-viral immunity in males likely results in high male morbidity and mortality from respiratory virus infections.
Makrinioti H, Bush A, Gern J, et al., 2021, The Role of Interferons in Driving Susceptibility to Asthma Following Bronchiolitis: Controversies and Research Gaps, FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY, Vol: 12, ISSN: 1664-3224
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- Citations: 5
Johnston SL, Goldblatt DL, Evans SE, et al., 2021, Airway Epithelial Innate Immunity, FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY, Vol: 12
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- Citations: 6
Bloom CI, Johnston SL, 2021, Decline in respiratory and cardiac admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic: what is the role of common respiratory virus infections?, Respirology, Vol: 26, Pages: 1010-1011, ISSN: 1323-7799
Numerous countries across the globe have introduced a variety of public health measures, non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), to reduce the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and accordingly reduce coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalizations and mortality. Effective NPIs have at the same time caused considerable changes in healthcare demand for non-COVID-19 conditions. In New Zealand, during the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020, their government instigated a stringent programme of restrictions, with a four-level alert system, including border closure, quarantine for returning travellers, social distancing measures and personal hygiene promotion. High public compliance with NPIs prevented COVID-19 community transmission for 102 consecutive days. In fact, they were so effective that the usual winter influenza surge was also disrupted, with an extraordinary 99.9% reduction in influenza virus detections as compared to previous years and a substantial reduction in all other respiratory viruses, including a 98% reduction in respiratory syncytial virus detections.1 Due to the key role viruses are known to play in many respiratory conditions and are postulated to play in myocardial infarctions and heart failure, it may be hypothesized that the stringent reductions implemented in New Zealand may also have mitigated the incidence of these conditions during that time.
Jansen K, Wirz OF, van de Veen W, et al., 2021, Loss of regulatory capacity in Treg cells following rhinovirus infection, JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY, Vol: 148, Pages: 1016-+, ISSN: 0091-6749
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- Citations: 5
Dhariwal J, Cameron A, Wong E, et al., 2021, Pulmonary innate lymphoid cell responses during rhinovirus-induced asthma exacerbations, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Vol: 204, Pages: 1259-1273, ISSN: 0091-6749
Rationale Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are significant sources of type 2 cytokines, which are implicated in the pathogenesis of asthma and asthma exacerbations. The role of ILC2s in virus-induced asthma exacerbations is not well-characterized. Objectives To characterize pulmonary ILC responses following experimental rhinovirus challenge in patients with moderate asthma and healthy subjects. Methods Patients with moderate asthma and healthy subjects were inoculated with rhinovirus-16, and underwent bronchoscopy at baseline, day 3 and day 8 post-inoculation. Pulmonary ILC1s and ILC2s were quantified in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) using flow cytometry. The ratio of BAL ILC2:ILC1 was assessed to determine their relative contributions to the clinical and immune response to rhinovirus challenge. Measurements and Main Results At baseline, ILC2s were significantly higher in patients with asthma than healthy subjects. At day 8, ILC2s significantly increased from baseline in both groups, which was significantly higher in asthma than in healthy subjects (all comparisons P<0.05). In healthy subjects, ILC1s increased from baseline at day 3 (P=0.001), while in patients with asthma, ILC1s increased from baseline at day 8 (P=0.042). Patients with asthma had significantly higher ILC2:ILC1 ratios at baseline (P=0.024) and day 8 (P=0.005). Increased ILC2:ILC1 ratio in asthma correlated with clinical exacerbation severity and type 2 cytokines in nasal mucosal lining fluid. Conclusions An ILC2-predominant inflammatory profile in asthma was associated with increased severity and duration of rhinovirus infection compared with healthy subjects, supporting the potential role of ILC2s in the pathogenesis of virus-induced asthma exacerbations. Clinical trial registration available at www.clinicaltrials.gov, ID: NCT01773590
Delgado-Eckert E, James A, Meier-Girard D, et al., 2021, Lung function fluctuation patterns unveil asthma and COPD phenotypes unrelated to type 2 inflammation, JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY, Vol: 148, Pages: 407-419, ISSN: 0091-6749
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- Citations: 10
Kamal F, Kumar S, Edwards MR, et al., 2021, Virus-induced volatile organic compounds are detectable in exhaled breath during pulmonary infection., American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Vol: 204, Pages: 1075-1085, ISSN: 1073-449X
BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a condition punctuated by acute exacerbations commonly triggered by viral and/or bacterial infection. Early identification of exacerbation trigger is important to guide appropriate therapy but currently available tests are slow and imprecise. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be detected in exhaled breath and have the potential to be rapid tissue-specific biomarkers of infection aetiology. METHODS: We used serial sampling within in vitro and in vivo studies to elucidate the dynamic changes that occur in VOC production during acute respiratory viral infection. Highly sensitive gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques were used to measure VOC production from infected airway epithelial cell cultures and in exhaled breath samples of healthy subjects experimentally challenged with rhinovirus A16 and COPD subjects with naturally-occurring exacerbations. RESULTS: We identified a novel VOC signature comprising of decane and other related long chain alkane compounds that is induced during rhinovirus infection of cultured airway epithelial cells and is also increased in the exhaled breath of healthy subjects experimentally challenged with rhinovirus and of COPD patients during naturally-occurring viral exacerbations. These compounds correlated with magnitude of anti-viral immune responses, virus burden and exacerbation severity but were not induced by bacterial infection, suggesting they represent a specific virus-inducible signature. CONCLUSION: Our study highlights the potential for measurement of exhaled breath VOCs as rapid, non-invasive biomarkers of viral infection. Further studies are needed to determine whether measurement of these signatures could be used to guide more targeted therapy with antibiotic/antiviral agents for COPD exacerbations.
Wirz OF, Jansen K, Satitsuksanoa P, et al., 2021, Experimental rhinovirus infection induces an antiviral response in circulating B cells which is dysregulated in patients with asthma, ALLERGY, Vol: 77, Pages: 130-142, ISSN: 0105-4538
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- Citations: 4
Padayachee Y, Flicke S, Linton S, et al., 2021, Review: The nose as a route for therapy. Part 2 Immunotherapy, Frontiers in Allergy, Vol: 2, ISSN: 2673-6101
The nose provides a route of access to the body for inhalants and fluids. Unsurprisingly it has a strong immune defense system, with involvement of innate (e.g., epithelial barrier, muco- ciliary clearance, nasal secretions with interferons, lysozyme, nitric oxide) and acquired (e.g., secreted immunoglobulins, lymphocytes) arms. The lattice network of dendritic cells surrounding the nostrils allows rapid uptake and sampling of molecules able to negotiate the epithelial barrier. Despite this many respiratory infections, including SARS-CoV2, are initiated through nasal mucosal contact, and the nasal mucosa is a significant “reservoir” for microbes including Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis and SARS -CoV-2. This review includes consideration of the augmentation of immune defense by the nasal application of interferons, then the reduction of unnecessary inflammation and infection by alteration of the nasal microbiome. The nasal mucosa and associated lymphoid tissue (nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissue, NALT) provides an important site for vaccine delivery, with cold-adapted live influenza strains (LAIV), which replicate intranasally, resulting in an immune response without significant clinical symptoms, being the most successful thus far. Finally, the clever intranasal application of antibodies bispecific for allergens and Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM-1) as a topical treatment for allergic and RV-induced rhinitis is explained.
Bloom CI, Drake TM, Docherty AB, et al., 2021, Risk of adverse outcomes in patients with underlying respiratory conditions admitted to hospital with COVID-19: a national, multicentre prospective cohort study using the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK, The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, Vol: 9, Pages: 699-711, ISSN: 2213-2600
BackgroundStudies of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 have found varying mortality outcomes associated with underlying respiratory conditions and inhaled corticosteroid use. Using data from a national, multicentre, prospective cohort, we aimed to characterise people with COVID-19 admitted to hospital with underlying respiratory disease, assess the level of care received, measure in-hospital mortality, and examine the effect of inhaled corticosteroid use.MethodsWe analysed data from the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK (CCP-UK) study. All patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 across England, Scotland, and Wales between Jan 17 and Aug 3, 2020, were eligible for inclusion in this analysis. Patients with asthma, chronic pulmonary disease, or both, were identified and stratified by age (<16 years, 16–49 years, and ≥50 years). In-hospital mortality was measured by use of multilevel Cox proportional hazards, adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, and medications (inhaled corticosteroids, short-acting β-agonists [SABAs], and long-acting β-agonists [LABAs]). Patients with asthma who were taking an inhaled corticosteroid plus LABA plus another maintenance asthma medication were considered to have severe asthma.Findings75 463 patients from 258 participating health-care facilities were included in this analysis: 860 patients younger than 16 years (74 [8·6%] with asthma), 8950 patients aged 16–49 years (1867 [20·9%] with asthma), and 65 653 patients aged 50 years and older (5918 [9·0%] with asthma, 10 266 [15·6%] with chronic pulmonary disease, and 2071 [3·2%] with both asthma and chronic pulmonary disease). Patients with asthma were significantly more likely than those without asthma to receive critical care (patients aged 16–49 years: adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1·20 [95% CI
Laanesoo A, Urgard E, Periyasamy K, et al., 2021, Dual role of the miR-146 family in rhinovirus-induced airway inflammation and allergic asthma exacerbation, CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE, Vol: 11, ISSN: 2001-1326
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- Citations: 7
Padayachee Y, Faiez TS, Singanayagam A, et al., 2021, Asthma and viruses: A focus on rhinoviruses and SARS-CoV-2, JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY, Vol: 147, Pages: 1648-1651, ISSN: 0091-6749
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- Citations: 2
Ogal M, Johnston SL, Klein P, et al., 2021, Echinacea reduces antibiotic usage in children through respiratory tract infection prevention: a randomized, blinded, controlled clinical trial, EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL RESEARCH, Vol: 26, ISSN: 0949-2321
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- Citations: 6
Collison AM, Sokulsky LA, Kepreotes E, et al., 2021, miR-122 promotes virus-induced lung disease by targeting SOCS1, JCI Insight, Vol: 6, ISSN: 2379-3708
Virus-induced respiratory tract infections are a major health burden in childhood, and available treatments are supportive rather than disease modifying. Rhinoviruses (RVs), the cause of approximately 80% of common colds, are detected in nearly half of all infants with bronchiolitis and the majority of children with an asthma exacerbation. Bronchiolitis in early life is a strong risk factor for the development of asthma. Here, we found that RV infection induced the expression of miRNA 122 (miR-122) in mouse lungs and in human airway epithelial cells. In vivo inhibition specifically in the lung reduced neutrophilic inflammation and CXCL2 expression, boosted innate IFN responses, and ameliorated airway hyperreactivity in the absence and in the presence of allergic lung inflammation. Inhibition of miR-122 in the lung increased the levels of suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1), which is an in vitro-validated target of miR-122. Importantly, gene silencing of SOCS1 in vivo completely reversed the protective effects of miR-122 inhibition on RV-induced lung disease. Higher miR-122 expression in nasopharyngeal aspirates was associated with a longer time on oxygen therapy and a higher rate of treatment failure in 87 infants hospitalized with moderately severe bronchiolitis. These results suggest that miR-122 promotes RV-induced lung disease via suppression of its target SOCS1 in vivo. Higher miR-122 expression was associated with worse clinical outcomes, highlighting the potential use of anti-miR-122 oligonucleotides, successfully trialed for treatment of hepatitis C, as potential therapeutics for RV-induced bronchiolitis and asthma exacerbations.
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