Trends in scientific interest of the American Broncho-Esophagological Association.

OBJECTIVES: The specialty of otolaryngology in the United States has changed dramatically over the past century, and this is particularly true in the field of bronchoesophagology, which has evolved from a new specialty at the beginning of the 20th century to one that is now multidisciplinary and further subspecialized. The purpose of this report was to trace the evolution of bronchoesophagology over the past 60 years by examining and quantitating the scientific subject matter of the annual meetings of the American Broncho-Esophagological Association (ABEA). METHODS: The Transactions of the ABEA annual meetings from the 1940s to the present day were examined in depth for subject matter, and articles were categorized by topic. Each decade was represented by 3 years. Data were sorted into 3 domains: 1) anatomic area, 2) adult versus pediatric, and 3) subject matter, including neoplasms, infectious diseases, foreign bodies, technologies, function, and trauma. The overall changes were quantified to outline the direction and interests of the ABEA. RESULTS: We reviewed 483 scientific articles from the 1940s into the present decade, with a mean of 69.7 papers (SD, 32.4) representing each decade. Bronchology and pulmonology decreased in percentage of papers, from 43% and 17.9% in 1940 to 1.7% and 2.6%, respectively, in the 2000s. Laryngology evolved from 12.5% to 58.1%. Esophagology peaked in the 1950s at 35.7%, dropped to 4% in the 1980s, and then rose to its present-day level of 15.4%. Trends were also discernible in gastric and tracheal areas. Pediatric topics rose to 26.7% in the 1980s, then declined to their present level of 12.8%. Topics related to aerodigestive tract function increased from 3.6% to 34.2%, and presentation of technology declined from 23.2% in the 1940s to nil in the 2000s. Trends in neoplasms, infectious diseases, foreign bodies, and trauma were less significant. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of the data reveals changing trends in the focus of the ABEA. The changing focus of the ABEA has paralleled scientific advances in our field, as well as the rise of other subspecialties such as interventional pulmonology and gastroenterology.

Synthesis and structure-activity-relationships of 1H-imidazo[4,5-c]quinolines that induce interferon production.

1H-Imidazo-[4,5-c]quinolines were prepared while investigating novel nucleoside analogues as potential antiviral agents. While these compounds showed no direct antiviral activity when tested in a number of cell culture systems, some demonstrated potent inhibition of virus lesion development in an intravaginal guinea pig herpes simplex virus-2 assay. We have determined that the in vivo antiviral activity can be attributed to the ability of these molecules to induce the production of cytokines, especially interferon (IFN), in this model. Subsequently, we found that the compounds also induce in vitro production of IFN in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs). The in vitro results reported herein and the in vivo results reported previously led to the discovery of imiquimod, 26, which was developed as a topical agent and has been approved for the treatment of genital warts, actinic keratosis, and superficial basal cell carcinoma.

Human pulmonary valve endothelial cells express functional adhesion molecules for leukocytes.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: Histopathological studies of rejected orthotopic heart transplants suggest that cardiac valve endothelium is spared the inflammatory cell infiltration and tissue damage that occurs in the myocardium. To test whether this apparent protection from leukocyte invasion might be an inherent feature of the valve endothelium, leukocyte adhesion molecule expression and function were analyzed in human pulmonary valve endothelial cells (HPVEC). Use of cultured HPVEC allowed delineation of the potential contribution of functional adhesion molecules from the contribution of hemodynamic forces exerted on the leaflet surface in vivo METHODS AND RESULTS: HPVEC express E-selectin, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 in response to the inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) similarly to other types of cultured human endothelial cells. In a static cell adhesion assay, E-selectin-mediated adhesion of HL-60 cells, a human promyelocytic leukemia cell line, and U937 cells, a human monocytic cell line, was determined in cells treated with TNF-alpha for 5 h. After 24 h of TNF-alpha, adhesion of U937 cells to HPVEC was mediated primarily by VCAM-1, consistent with the high expression of VCAM-1 and diminished expression of E-selectin at 24 h. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that HPVEC express functional leukocyte adhesion molecules in vitro and suggest that cardiac valve endothelium is competent to initiate leukocyte adhesion. Thus, other factors, such as the hemodynamic forces exerted on the valve, may contribute to the apparent protection from inflammatory cell infiltration in vivo.