BACKGROUND The usefulness of sputum culture in guiding microbiological diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia is controversial. We evaluate and assess it using the Patients Outcome Research Team (PORT) predictive scoring system. METHODS A cohort of 1669 patients with community-acquired pneumonia was studied. Before administering antibiotic therapy, sputum was collected and its quality eval...

STUDY OBJECTIVES Identification of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in the sputum smear at the completion of tuberculosis therapy is in some settings considered evidence of treatment failure. However, some patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) will have positive smear results with negative sputum culture results at the end of therapy. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of p...

SETTING Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis is challenging in patients who are unable to produce sputum. The string test, a method for retrieving enteropathogens, is a potential alternative diagnostic tool. OBJECTIVES To compare the TB detection yield and tolerability of the string test and that of sputum induction in adults with presumed TB in Uganda. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. String test and ...

BACKGROUND Sputum analysis provides a non-invasive method of examining the airway secretions of subjects with asthma in order to better understand the inflammatory process. Increased proportions of eosinophils are generally seen in the sputum of subjects with asthma, especially when there is an exacerbation. An unexpected observation in the sputum of subjects with mild exacerbations of asthma i...

Nonasthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis (NAEB) is characterized by chronic cough and airway eosinophilic inflammation. Airway and systemic inflammation cytokine profile have not been comprehensively described in patients with NAEB.The aim of the study was to identify the cytokine profile in sputum and serum of NAEB patients. Furthermore, the relationship between cytokines and clinical features wou...

We investigated the physicochemical and transport properties of sputum samples collected in physiotherapy from a well-documented group of 27 cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with identified CF genotypes. Sputum samples were characterized ex vivo for their water content, surface properties (surface tension and contact angle), rheologic properties (viscosity and elastic modulus), and transport prope...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by significant chronic inflammation in the pulmonary compartment as well as in the circulation. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between local and systemic inflammation in smoking-induced COPD by assessing levels of soluble (s) tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors, TNF-alpha, and interleukin-8 (IL-8) in induced sputum ...

The persistent and viscous nature of airway secretions in cystic fibrosis (CF) disease leads to airway obstruction, opportunistic infection, and deterioration of lung function. Thioredoxin (Trx) is a protein disulfide reductase that catalyzes numerous thiol-dependent cellular reductive processes. To determine whether Trx can alter the rheological properties of mucus, sputum obtained from CF pat...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE CD163 is a monocyte/macrophage-specific molecule whose expression is induced by corticosteroids and IL-10. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of soluble CD163 (sCD163) in the induced sputum of asthmatic patients before and after therapy with inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs). PATIENTS AND METHODS The study was performed in 24 patients with mild aller...

INTRODUCTION The percentage of neutrophils in sputum are increased in COPD patients, and may therefore be a biomarker of airway inflammation. We studied the relationships between sputum neutrophils and FEV1, health status, exacerbation rates, systemic inflammation and emphysema, and long term variability at 1 year. METHODS Sputum samples were obtained from 488 COPD patients within the ECLIPSE...