Cigarette smoking is the major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a syndrome characterized by pulmonary neutrophil infiltration, chronic inflammation, and progressive tissue destruction. We examined here the acute effect of aqueous cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and of two alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes (acrolein and crotonaldehyde) contained in CSE in cultured norma...

Previous studies demonstrated that CSE induces oxidative stress and its consequences on isolated mitochondria obtained from lung, heart and brain which may provide insight into the role of CSE in human health and disease. The present study was carried out to further characterize and compare toxic effect of CSE extract on isolated mitochondria obtained from either a directly contacting tissue (i...

BACKGROUND Cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE) produces hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the cardiovascular system. The deficiency of CSE in mice leads to a decreased endogenous H2S level, an age-dependent increase in blood pressure, and impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation. To date, there is no direct evidence for a causative role of altered metabolism of endogenous H2S in atherosclerosis developmen...

Nuclear erythroid related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a redox-sensitive transcription factor which is involved in the transcriptional regulation of many antioxidant genes, including glutamatecysteine ligase (GCL). Cigarette smoke is known to cause oxidative stress and deplete glutathione (GSH) levels in alveolar epithelial cells. We hypothesized that resveratrol, a polyphenolic phytoalexin, possesses an...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Emphysema is the main pathological feature of COPD and also is the focus of the related research. Although several emphysema animal models have been established, exact comparison of findings is seldom. The present study aimed to compare cigarette smoke (CS) exposure-induced emphysema model and intraperitoneal injection of cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced emphysema ...

Cigarette smoke exposure has been associated with a variety of diseases, including emphysema. The current study evaluated the interaction of cell density and cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on fibroblast contraction of collagen gels. Protein levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1, fibronectin, PGE(2), and TGF-beta1 mRNA were quantified. Although both 5 and 10% CSE inhibited contraction ...

AIMS In children with convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) with fever, to determine the likelihood of acute bacterial meningitis (ABM), the proportion that are treated with antibiotics, and the proportion that have diagnostic CSF sampling. METHODS Patients with an incident episode of CSE with fever were identified as part of an ongoing prospective population based study of CSE in childhood. ...

When grasping and lifting different objects, visual cues and previously acquired knowledge enable us to prepare the upcoming grasp by scaling the fingertip forces according to the actual weight of the object. However, when no visual information is available, the weight of the object has to be predicted based on information learned from previous grasps. Here, we investigated how changes in corti...

BACKGROUND Coexistence of multiple potential causes of cerebral infarct (MPCI) has been poorly studied. OBJECTIVE To determine the risk factors, clinical findings, and topographical patterns of patients with at least 2 potential causes of cerebral infarct. DESIGN Data analysis from a prospective acute stroke registry (the Lausanne Stroke Registry, Lausanne, Switzerland) in a community-based...

intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of streptozotocin (stz) causes cognitive impairment in rats. the beneficial effect of crocus sativus l. extract (cse) was evaluated on icv stz-induced learning, memory, and cognitive impairment in male rats. for this purpose, rats were injected with icv stz bilaterally, on days 1 and 3 (3 mg/kg). the stz-injected rats received cse (60 mg/kg; i.p.) every o...