• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.58 no.1
• /
• pp.43-53
• /
• 2005

Emphysema is characterized by air space enlargement and alveolar destruction. The mechanism responsible for the development of emphysema was thought to be protease/antiprotease imbalance and oxidative stress. A very recent study shows that alveolar cell apoptosis causes lung destruction and emphysematous changes. Thus, this study was performed to support the evidence for the role of apoptosis in the development of emphysema by characterizing cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced apoptosis in A549 (type II pneumocyte) lung epithelial cells. CSE induced apoptosis at low concentration (10% or less) and both apoptosis and necrosis at high concentration (20%). Apoptosis was demonstrated by DNA fragmentation using FACScan for subG1 fraction. Discrimination between apoptosis and necrosis was done by morphologic analysis using fluorescent microscopy with Hoecst 33342/propium iodide double staing and electron microscopy. Cytochrome c release was confirmed by using immunofluorescence with monoclonal anti-cytochrome c antibody. However, CSE-induced cell death did not show the activation of caspase 3 and was not blocked by caspase inhibitors. This suggests that CSE-induced apoptosis might be caspase-independent apoptosis. CSE-induced cell death was near completely blocked by N-acetylcystein and bcl-2 overexpression protected CSE-induced cell death. This results suggests that CSE might induce apoptosis through intracellular oxidative stress. CSE also activated p53 and functional knock-out of p53 using stable overexpression of HPV-E6 protein inhibited CSE-induced cell death. The characterization of CSE-induced cell death in lung epithelial cells could support the role of lung cell apoptosis in the pathogenesis of emphysema.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.157-162
• /
• 1999

Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the lung is rare among extranodal lymphomas. The most common form is low grade B-cell type originated from the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) of the lung and primary peripheral T cell lymphoma of the lung is extremely rare. We recently experienced a case of fine needle aspiration cytology of primary peripheral T cell lymphoma of the lung in a 39-year-old male patient. The cytologic smears revealed some sheets of reactive epithelial cells, epithelioid histiocytes, and numerous polymorphous population of lymphoid cells composed of small and intermediate sized lymphoid cells and mature lymphocytes. Lymphoid cells were slightly larger than normal mature lymphocytes and showed significant irregularity of nuclear membrane. The internal nuclear structure was marked by chromatin clumping, clear parachromatin areas, and inconspicuous nucleoli. Histopathologically, atypical small lymphocytes infiltrated in the interstitium and alveolar sac. By the immunohistochemical study and molecular biologic study of gene rearrangement, the T cell clonality of atypical lymphoid cells was confirmed.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.503-510
• /
• 2010

Most allergens have protease activities, suggesting that proteases may be a key link between Th2-type immune reactions in allergic responses. Protease activated receptor (PAR) 2 is activated via the proteolytic cleavage of its N-terminal domain by proteinases. To know the role of PAR2 in Aspergillus protease allergen activated Th2 immune responses in airway epithelial cells, we investigated and compared immune cell recruitment and level of chemokines and cytokines between PAR2 knock out (KO) mice and wild type (WT) mice. There were evident immune cell infiltrations into the bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of WT mice, but the infiltrations in PAR2 KO mice were significantly lowered than those of WT mice. The IL-25, TSLP, and eotaxin gene expressions were profoundly increased after Aspergillus protease, but their expression was significantly lowered in PAR2 KO mice in this study. Compared to PAR2 KO mice, OVA specific IgE concentrations in serum of WT mice were quite increased; moreover, the IgE level of PAR2 KO mice was lower than in WT mice. The IL-25 expression by Aspergillus protease stimulation was significantly reduced by p38 specific inhibitor treatment. In this study, we determined that Th2 response was initiated with IL-25 and TSLP mRNA up-regulation in lung epithelial cells via PAR2 after Aspergillus protease allergen treatment.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.367-379
• /
• 1991

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of antioxidants (vitamin E, selenium, and coenzyme $Q_{10}$) on the bleomycin-induced pulmonary lesions in male rats. Sprague-Dawley male rats were divided into 4 treatment groups ($T_1$, $T_2$, $T_3$, $T_4$) and 4 control groups ($C_1$, $C_1$, $C_3$, $C_4$). The treatment groups of rats weie given a single intratracheal dose of bleomycin (1.5 units/rat) and control groups of rats were given a single intratracheal dose of normal saline (0.15ml/rat). The rats in the $T_1$ group and $C_1$, group were dosed with normal saline (0.5ml/kg/day), the rats in the $T_2$ group and $C_2$ group were dosed with vitamin E (50mg/kg/day), the rats in the $T_3$ group and $C_3$ group were dosed with sodium selenite (3mg/kg/day) and the rats in the $T_4$ gronp and $C_4$ group were dosed with coenzyme $Q_{10}$ (2.5mg/kg/day) intraperitoneally for 7 days or 14 days, respectively. Animals were killed at 7th and 14th day after dosing with bleomycin or saline. The results obtained were as follows: 1. Lung wet weight of treatment groups of rats was increased significantly while body weight gain of them was decreased significantly in comparison with that of control groups of rats (p<0.01). 2. The ratio(%) of lung wet weight to final body weight of treatment groups of rats was increased significantly in comparison with that of control groups of rats (p<0.01). 3. The main histopathological findings of lungs observed in rats at 7th day after dosing with bleomycin were proliferation of the type II alveolar epithelial cells and fibroblasts, increased invading of macrophages into lesions, round cell infiltration and perivascular edema. 4. Lung fibrous tissues were markedly increased in rats observed at 14th day after dosing with bleomycin. 5. Pumonary lesions observed in rats dosed with bleomycin and antioxidants(vitamin E, selenium, coenzyme $Q_{10}$) were not significantly different from those of rats given bleomycin alone.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.478-487
• /
• 2003

Background : There have been several studies showing that the angiotensin II and angiotensin converting enzyme(ACE) contributes to the apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells in idiopathic interstitial pneumonia and the activation of fibroblasts during the process of pulmonary fibrosis. These results suggest that the pulmonary fibrosis can be inhibited by the angiotensin II receptor antagonist(AGIIRA). This study was performed to identify the therapeutic effect of AGIIRA in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF). Method : Thirteen patients with IPF, who were diagnosed with an open lung biopsy(6 patients) and furfilling the ATS criteria(7 patients) between March 1999 and October 2001 at the Gachon medical center, were enrolled in this study. Of these patients, eight patients were treated with a regimen including AGIIRA(AT group), and five were treated without AGIIRA(NT group). The pulmonary function tests and dyspnea(ATS scale) were measured at diagnosis and 1 year after treatment. All the data was collected to analyze the therapeutic effect of AGIIRA on the patients with IPF. Results : The AT group contained 8 patients(M:F=4:4) and the NT group contained 5 patients(M:F=3:2). There was no significant difference in the serum angiotensin II level between the two groups($202.5{\pm}58.5$ vs $163.7{\pm}47.3pg/ml$, p>0.05). The AT group showed an upward trend in TLC(+3%), FVC(+4%), FEV1(+3%) and DLco(+2%) compared to the NT group(TLC(-14%), FVC(-3%), FEV1(-4%) except for DLco(+5%)). The dyspnea score in the AT group improved significantly but not in the NT group. Conclusion : These results suggest that the angiotensin II receptor antagonist may have an effect on stabilizing IPF.