We aimed to conduct a state-of-the-art review of the current literature and offer further insights into the methodological aspects concerning induced sputum. The increasing popularity of sputum induction as a non-invasive and cost-effective method fo...
Background: Xpert MTB/RIF (GX) for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis is often located in reference laboratories, and sputum needs to be transported using a cold chain. Transport media to preserve sputum are available, but performance data under programmati...
Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cellular composition of induced sputum (IS) in sarcoidosis and its role in assessing the disease activity. The safety of the procedure was also determined. Material and methods: Sputum induction...
Voriconazole is one of the most used antifungal azoles against pulmonary aspergillosis. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of the voriconazole concentration in plasma is recommended in clinical practice guidelines to prevent treatment failure and toxi...
Diagnosis of pulmonary aspergillosis (PA), a fungal disease caused by Aspergillus species, is challenging since symptoms are unspecific. The galactomannan (antigen secreted by Aspergillus species) test in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid is a valua...
Background: Only one study has reported the presence of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in COPD patients’ sputum. Thus, we aimed to isolate and characterize EVs from COPD and healthy individuals’ sputum. Methods: A total of 20 spontaneous sputum samples...
Different eosinophil subpopulations have been identified in asthma and other eosinophilic disorders. However, there is a paucity of data on eosinophil subpopulations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study...
Lung cancer has been the largest cause of cancer deaths worldwide with an overall 5-year survival rate of only 15%. Its symptoms can be found exclusively in advanced stages where the chances for patients to survive are very low, thus making the morta...
Different steps and conditions for DNA extraction for microbiota analysis in sputum have been reported in the literature. We aimed at testing both dithiothreitol (DTT) and enzymatic treatments of sputum samples and identifying the most suitable DNA e...
Higher blood and sputum eosinophil counts are associated with a greater response to corticosteroids in COPD. Low blood eosinophil counts exhibit greater stability over time whereas higher counts demonstrate more variability. Stability of airway eosin...
Bacteriological examination of sputum is the simplest and widely accessible diagnostic method of res-piratory infections. However its value in nonspecifi c respiratory infections, especially in exacerbations of COPD, is questionable because they can...
Background and objectives: It is known that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) development process is imperceptible and can be asymptomatic for 20 or more years. It is of great importance to diagnose early inflammatory changes that can lead...
Introduction: Sputum induction (SI) is a safe and effective technique to study airway inflammation in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, it has the potential to induce bronchospasm and fall in arterial oxygen saturation...
Recent advancements in asthma management include non-invasive methodologies such as sputum analysis, exhaled breath condensate (EBC), and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO). These techniques offer a means to assess airway inflammation, a critical...
Alterations in glutathione and its metabolism contribute to oxidative stress in COPD, but the role of S-glutathionylation (PSSG) and its major regulator glutaredoxin 1 (Grx1) remains unclear. This study investigated the Grx1/PSSG axis in sputum of CO...
We evaluated diagnostic yield of third sputum smear in patients co infected with HIV for detection of pulmonary tuberculosis. Among 139 pulmonary tuberculosis cases confirmed with positive sputum culture, diagnostic yield of first smear of sputum wit...
Immunoassays are commonly used to assess airway inflammation in sputum samples from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. However, assay performance and validation in this complex matrix is inconsistently reported. The aim of this st...
Macrophages represent the most predominant immune effector cells in the alveolar spaces and conducting airways and are known to express activated phenotype. The study was aimed at assessing the differences in cellular profile and the expression of se...
Background/Objectives: This study evaluated the concordance between sputum and bronchoscopic specimens in diagnosing nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) pulmonary disease. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients with NTM isolated from respiratory...
The identification of markers of inflammatory activity at the early stages of pulmonary diseases which share common characteristics that prevent their clear differentiation is of great significance to avoid misdiagnosis, and to understand the intrins...
21 February 2014
Arsenic exposure from drinking water is associated with adverse respiratory outcomes, but it is unknown whether arsenic affects pulmonary microbiota. This exploratory study assessed the effect of exposure to arsenic in drinking water on bacterial div...
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths, with an overall survival of 15% at five years. Biomarkers that can sensitively and specifically detect lung cancer at early stage are crucial for improving this poor survival rate. Sputum has been th...
31 January 2022
Sputum specimen referral cascades in resource-limited settings are characterized by losses of specimens, resulting in delays in tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis. Mpulungu District Health Office in Zambia conducted a quantitative based cross-sectional stud...
Introduction: Although induced sputum (IS) has recently been used in studies of interstitial lung disease (ILD), there havebeen few reports on studies investigating the usefulness of this method in the differential diagnosis of ILD. The aim of ourstu...
Introduction: Tuberculosis is still a considerable health problem in many countries. Rapid diagnosis of this disease is important, and adenosine deaminase (ADA) has been used as a diagnostic test. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic va...
Introduction: Based on the normal values for inflammatory cell counts in induced sputum produced by healthy individuals living in the region of Silesia, Poland, we assessed the usefulness of cytological examination of induced sputum in the diagnostic...
Backgroud: Allergic rhinitis is one of risk factors for development of allergic asthma. Methods: 9 patients with asthma, 16 patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) due to grass or rye pollen sensitization and 17 healthy control subjects were...
Coal worker’s pneumoconiosis (CWP) is an occupationally induced progressive fibrotic lung disease. This irreversible but preventable disease currently affects millions across the world, mainly in countries with developed coal mining industries....
In cystic fibrosis (CF), mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator protein reduce ionic exchange in the lung, resulting in thicker mucus, which impairs mucociliary function, airway inflammation and infection. The mucosal and nutritional...
The measurement of cytokines in induced sputum and nasal lavage (NL) samples has been performed for years in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). The aim of this study was to directly compare sputum and NL samples and interpret results based on disease...
Background: Recent findings indicate that the host microbiome can have a significant impact on the development of lung cancer by inducing an inflammatory response, causing dysbiosis, and generating genome damage. The aim of this study was to search f...
Cystic fibrosis (CF) airway disease is characterized by chronic microbial infections and infiltration of inflammatory polymorphonuclear (PMN) granulocytes. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a major lung pathogen in CF that persists despite the pre...
Diagnosing non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) in patients unable to produce sputum spontaneously requires invasive procedures to obtain valid respiratory specimens. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the results of microb...
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous condition marked by airway inflammation, airflow limitation, and structural remodeling. Exosomal microRNAs (exo-miRNAs) are stable, cell-free biomarkers reflecting airway mol...
22 December 2022
Background: Sputum smear microscopy (SSM) is a screening test used to diagnose tuberculosis (TB); however, its performance and sensitivity are relatively low, which can lead to false negatives. We designed a cross-sectional study to estimate the perf...
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a disorder causing dysfunctional ion transport resulting in the accumulation of viscous mucus. This environment fosters a chronic bacterial biofilm-associated infection in the airways. Achromobacter xylosoxidans, a gram-negati...
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has affected social patterns and consequently the prevalence of infections, such as seasonal influenza. It has been reported that invasive pneumococcal infection has markedly decreased worldwide. Method: We retrospectively inv...
The accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 through respiratory sampling is critical for the prevention of further transmission and timely initiation of treatment. There is a diverse range of SARS-CoV-2 detection rates in reported studies, with uncertainty...
Severe asthma is a heterogeneous condition often resistant to conventional corticosteroid therapy, necessitating the identification of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This study investigates immunological, transcriptional, and proteomic bio...
Background: Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) typically produce sputa, which are used to identify the pathogen. Sputum also contains host proteins that may aid in diagnosis. We hypothesized that sputa from TB patients will have unique proteom...
5 February 2025
Inadequate access to timely diagnosis and linkage to treatment are major barriers to tuberculosis (TB) care. New point-of-care diagnostics that do not rely solely on sputum samples are needed to make up for lost time, bringing TB testing closer to se...
Many ailments can be diagnosed while they are asymptomatic, meaning that the patient has no signs or symptoms of a progressing disease. If caught in their initial stage of formation, these disorders can be effectively treated, leading to successful o...
Objective. The aim of study was to investigate a chemotactic effect of induced sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid on blood neutrophils in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and healthy individuals.
Material and methods. F...
In primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) patients, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major opportunistic pathogen, frequently involved in chronic infections of the lower airways. Infections by this bacterial species correlates with a worsening clinical prognosi...
Introduction: Asthma and obesity are considered inflammatory disorders. Inflammatory markers—sputum eosinophils, C-reactive protein (CRP) and the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were analysed to find their association in obese asthmatic...
Hospitalized patients with a high suspicion of pulmonary tuberculosis (HS-PTB) are isolated until a definite diagnosis can be determined. If doubt remains after negative sputum samples, bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is often sought....
18 February 2022
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a serious public health challenge despite enormous eradication efforts. Indigenous groups worldwide have a higher TB incidence and associated delayed sputum–smear conversion. The aim of this case–cont...
17 October 2022
Two subsets of eosinophils have been described: resident eosinophils with homeostatic functions (rEOS) in healthy subjects and in patients with nonallergic eosinophilic asthma, and inflammatory eosinophils (iEOS) in blood and lung samples from patien...
(1) Background: We have previously shown that sputum rheology can discriminate between patients with COPD and other muco-obstructive lung diseases, and that it is correlated with mucin content and sputum eosinophilia. We now hypothesize that it could...
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, yet only a fraction of smokers develops the disease, suggesting protective mechanisms in resilient individuals. Identifying airway-localized molecular signatures...
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