STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS OF MUCOCILIARY CLEARANCE IN HUMAN AIRWAYS.

Our study focuses on the intricate connection between tissue-level organization and ciliated organ function in humans, particularly in understanding the morphological organization of airways and their role in mucociliary clearance. Mucociliary clearance is a key mechanical defense mechanism of human airways, and clearance failure is associated with many respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. While single-cell transcriptomics have unveiled the cellular complexity of the human airway epithelium, our understanding of the mechanics that link epithelial structure to clearance function mainly stem from animal models. This reliance on animal data limits crucial insights into human airway barrier function and hampers the human-relevant in vitro modeling of airway diseases. This study, for the first time, maps the distribution of ciliated and secretory cell types along the airway tree in both rats and humans, noting species-specific differences in ciliary function and elucidates structural parameters of airway epithelia that predict clearance function in both native and in vitro tissues alike. By uncovering how tissue organization influences ciliary function, we can better understand disruptions in mucociliary clearance, which could have implications for various ciliated organs beyond the airways.

STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS OF MUCOCILIARY CLEARANCE IN HUMAN AIRWAYS.

Mucociliary clearance is a key mechanical defense mechanism of human airways, and clearance failure is linked to major respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. While single-cell transcriptomics have unveiled the cellular complexity of the human airway epithelium, our understanding of the mechanics that link epithelial structure to clearance function mainly stem from animal models. This reliance on animal data limits crucial insights into human airway barrier function and hampers the human-relevant in vitro modeling of airway diseases. Our study fills this crucial knowledge gap and for the first time (1) maps the distribution of ciliated and secretory cell types on the mucosal surface along the proximo-distal axis of the rat and human airway tree, (2) identifies species-specific differences in ciliary beat and clearance function, and (3) elucidates structural parameters of airway epithelia that predict clearance function in both native and in vitro tissues alike. Our broad range of experimental approaches and physics-based modeling translate into generalizable parameters to quantitatively benchmark the human-relevancy of mucociliary clearance in experimental models, and to characterize distinct disease states.

Influence of burn specific pain anxiety on pain experienced during wound care in adult outpatients with burns.

Burn pain is known as the most difficult type of pain to manage. In order to improve patient outcomes, nurses must be aware of burn pain and the conditions that affect it. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of burn-specific pain anxiety on pain experienced by adult outpatients with burns during burn wound care. This was a single-center, prospective, and descriptive study. The study was conducted with 60 adult outpatients with burns between March 2021 and April 2021 in a burn centers' outpatient service in Ankara. Personal information form, burn-specific pain anxiety scale, numerical rating scale, and verbal category scale were used for data collection. The mean age of the patients was 38.50 ± 14.27 years, and 53.33% patients were females. The primary cause of burns was home accidents (80%), and patients generally suffered from scalding-type burns (73.33%). This study demonstrated that the patients reported high pain anxiety associated with burns (59.85 ± 15.71), the mean pain score experienced during wound care was 6.33 ± 2.14 and the pain was primarily classified as disturbing (35%) based on the verbal category scale. In this study, it was found that burn-specific pain anxiety affects the pain experienced during burn wound care in adults receiving outpatient treatment. Hence, nurses should provide effective pain management to patients with burn injuries. In addition, the inclusion of anxiety-reducing practices in the care plans of such patients is recommended, and further studies are needed to identify and meet the care needs of patients with severe burns.

Plasma proteomics identify potential severity biomarkers from COVID-19 associated network.

PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to threaten public health globally. Severe acute respiratory coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection-dependent alterations in the host cell signaling network may unveil potential target proteins and pathways for therapeutic strategies. In this study, we aim to define early severity biomarkers and monitor altered pathways in the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We systematically analyzed plasma proteomes of COVID-19 patients from Turkey by using mass spectrometry. Different severity grades (moderate, severe, and critical) and periods of disease (early, inflammatory, and recovery) are monitored. Significant alterations in protein expressions are used to reconstruct the COVID-19 associated network that was further extended to connect viral and host proteins. RESULTS: Across all COVID-19 patients, 111 differentially expressed proteins were found, of which 28 proteins were unique to our study mainly enriching in immunoglobulin production. By monitoring different severity grades and periods of disease, CLEC3B, MST1, and ITIH2 were identified as potential early predictors of COVID-19 severity. Most importantly, we extended the COVID-19 associated network with viral proteins and showed the connectedness of viral proteins with human proteins. The most connected viral protein ORF8, which has a role in immune evasion, targets many host proteins tightly connected to the deregulated human plasma proteins. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Plasma proteomes from critical patients are intrinsically clustered in a distinct group than severe and moderate patients. Importantly, we did not recover any grouping based on the infection period, suggesting their distinct proteome even in the recovery phase. The new potential early severity markers can be further studied for their value in the clinics to monitor COVID-19 prognosis. Beyond the list of plasma proteins, our disease-associated network unravels altered pathways, and the possible therapeutic targets in SARS-CoV-2 infection by connecting human and viral proteins. Follow-up studies on the disease associated network that we propose here will be useful to determine molecular details of viral perturbation and to address how the infection affects human physiology.