Efficacy and safety of lascufloxacin for nursing- and healthcare-associated pneumonia: A single-arm, open-label clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Nursing- and healthcare-associated pneumonia (NHCAP) constitutes most of the pneumonia in elderly patients including aspiration pneumonia in Japan. Lascufloxacin (LSFX) possesses broad antibacterial activity against respiratory pathogens, such as Streptococcus spp. And anaerobes inside the oral cavity. However, the efficacy and safety of LSFX in NHCAP treatment remains unknown. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of LSFX tablets in the treatment of patients with NHCAP. METHODS: In this single-arm, open-label, uncontrolled study, LSFX was administered to patients with NHCAP at 24 facilities. The study participants were orally administered 75 mg LSFX once daily for 7 days. The primary endpoint was the clinical efficacy at the time of test of cure (TOC). The secondary endpoints included clinical efficacy at the time of end of treatment (EOT), early clinical efficacy, microbiological efficacy, and safety analysis. RESULT: During the study period, 75 patients provided written informed consent to participate and were included. Finally, 56 and 71 patients were eligible for clinical efficacy and safety analyses, respectively. The median age of the patients was significantly high at 86 years. All patients were classified as having moderate disease severity using the A-DROP scoring system. LSFX tablets demonstrated high efficacy rates of 78.6 % at TOC and 89.3 % at EOT. The risk factors for resistant bacteria or aspiration pneumonia did not affect clinical efficacy. No severe adverse events associated with the study drugs were observed. CONCLUSION: Oral LSFX is an acceptable treatment option for moderate NHCAP in elderly patients who can take oral medications.

Pulmonary Nocardiosis Caused by Nocardia exalbida in a Patient with Lung Cancer and Radiation Pneumonitis: A Case Report and Literature Review.

We report a case of Nocardia exalbida (N.exalbida)-induced pneumonia in a 70-year old Japanese man with lung cancer and radiation pneumonitis. He initially received doripenem (1.5 g/day) for pneumonia treatment, and N.exalbida was identified by a clone library analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid obtained from the pneumonia lesion. The doripenem dosage was therefore increased to 3.0 g/day with adjunctive trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and his pneumonia improved. N. exalbida is susceptible to antibiotics; thus, in nocardiosis, N. exalbida infection might be associated with a good response to treatment, although its clinical findings are non-specific and similar to those of other Nocardia infections.

Radiological patterns of pulmonary involvement may predict treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: There have been no reports on the relationship between lung radiological patterns and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity or RA treatment response in patients with RA-associated lung disease (RA-LD). METHODS: Patients with RA-LD who underwent treatment for RA from April 2005 to March 2015 were retrospectively evaluated. RA-LD patients were divided into three groups based on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) patterns [usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP), nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP), and bronchiolitis]. The disease activity score of 28 joints-erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) and the response of RA to treatment, as measured by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria, were investigated. RESULTS: A total of 77 patients (21 with UIP, 23 with NSIP, and 33 with bronchiolitis) were enrolled. Median scores (interquartile range) on the DAS28-ESR at baseline were 5.27 (4.76-5.74), 5.48 (4.24-6.34), and 5.04 (3.90-5.66) for UIP, NSIP, and bronchiolitis, respectively; there were no statistical differences between the three groups (p = 0.412). One year after baseline, 19 (90%), 14 (61%), and 19 (58%) of patients in the UIP, NSIP, and bronchiolitis groups, respectively, were considered good or moderate responders, as evaluated using the EULAR response criteria; there was a significant difference between these three groups (p = 0.014). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the UIP pattern was significantly associated with good or moderate response to RA treatment 1 year after baseline (p = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that NSIP and bronchiolitis HRCT patterns may be risk factors for resistance to RA therapy.

Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient with Anti-transcriptional Intermediary Factor 1γ Antibody Who Developed Dermatomyositis after Successful Chemoradiotherapy.

We herein report a 63-year-old woman with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) who developed dermatomyositis (DM) after initial chemoradiotherapy despite tumor reduction. Serum anti-transcriptional in termediary factor (TIF) 1γ antibody was detected before the development of DM, and its levels increased over time. She died five months after the diagnosis of SCLC. Anti-TIF1γ antibody is known to be a marker for cancer-associated DM (CAM); however, the present case indicates that the antibody can be found in cancer patients without DM. This case is also unusual, as DM developed later despite successful chemoradiotherapy.

The overexpression of peroxiredoxin-4 affects the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF) is life-threatening. Several serum biomarkers, such as Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) and surfactant protein D (SP-D), are clinically used for evaluating AE-IPF, but these biomarkers are not adequate for establishing an early and accurate diagnosis of AE-IPF. Recently, the protective roles of the members of the peroxiredoxin (PRDX) family have been reported in IPF; however, the role of PRDX4 in AE-IPF is unclear. METHODS: Serum levels of PRDX4 protein, KL-6, SP-D and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in 51 patients with stable IPF (S-IPF), 38 patients with AE-IPF and 15 healthy volunteers were retrospectively assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Moreover, as an animal model of pulmonary fibrosis, wild-type (WT) and PRDX4-transgenic (Tg) mice were intratracheally administered with bleomycin (BLM, 2 mg/kg), and fibrotic and inflammatory changes in lungs were evaluated 3 weeks after the intratracheal administration. RESULTS: Serum levels of PRDX4 protein, KL-6, SP-D and LDH in patients with S-IPF and AE-IPF were significantly higher than those in healthy volunteers, and those in AE-IPF patients were the highest among the three groups. Using receiver operating characteristic curves, area under the curve values of serum PRDX4 protein, KL-6, SP-D, and LDH for detecting AE-IPF were 0.873, 0.698, 0.675, and 0.906, respectively. BLM-treated Tg mice demonstrated aggravated histopathological findings and poor prognosis compared with BLM-treated WT mice. Moreover, PRDX4 expression was observed in alveolar macrophages and lung epithelial cells of BLM-treated Tg mice. CONCLUSIONS: PRDX4 is associated with the aggravation of inflammatory changes and fibrosis in the pathogenesis of IPF, and serum PRDX4 may be useful in clinical practice of IPF patients.

Lymphocytic focus score is positively related to airway and interstitial lung diseases in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Although high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is useful for the characterization of minute morphological changes in the lungs, no study has investigated risk factors for lung involvement detected by HRCT in patients with Sjögren's syndrome with or without respiratory symptoms. The aim of the current study was to investigate risk factors for lung involvement in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome detected by HRCT, with a particular focus on airway and interstitial lung diseases. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome and investigated risk factors for lung involvement detected by HRCT. A total of 101 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome with initial HRCT examinations were enrolled. RESULTS: Higher age, dry mouth, and higher labial gland biopsy focus scores (≥4) were risk factors for airway diseases (odds ratio [OR] 1.064 confidence interval [CI] 1.026-1.102, OR 8.795 CI 2.317-33.378 and OR 3.261 CI 1.100-9.675, respectively) in the multivariable analysis. Higher age, male sex, and higher labial gland biopsy focus scores (≥4) were risk factors for interstitial lung diseases (OR 1.078 CI 1.032-1.127, OR 12.178 CI 1.121-132.307 and OR 3.954 CI 1.423-10.987, respectively) in the multivariable analysis. The presence of anti-T-lymphotropic virus type 1 antibodies was significantly more common in patients with airway diseases. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed significant associations of labial gland biopsy focus scores and dry mouth with pulmonary manifestations in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome. Focus scores as well as dry mouth may reflect lymphoproliferative activity in the lungs in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Respiratory comorbidities and risk of mortality in hospitalized patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory comorbidities are frequently associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, little is known about their prognostic impact in hospitalized patients with IPF. We examined the impact of respiratory comorbidities on the mortality rates of hospitalized patients with IPF using a Japanese nationwide database. METHODS: We identified 5665 hospitalized patients diagnosed with IPF between April 2010 and March 2013. The primary outcome was defined as the in-hospital mortality at 30 days after admission. The impact of respiratory comorbidities was assessed using a Cox proportional hazards model that incorporated clinically relevant factors. RESULTS: In hospitalized patients with IPF, the prevalence of bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary hypertension, and lung cancer were 9.5%, 4.6%, and 3.7%, respectively. Among patients with bacterial pneumonia, the four most common pathogens were Streptococcus pneumoniae (31.6%), methicillin-resistant Streptococcus aureus (18.4%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (9.2%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9.2%). Lung cancer was more commonly found in the lower lobes (60.1%) than in other lobes. The survival at 30 days from admission was 78.4% in all patients and significantly lower in IPF patients with bacterial pneumonia (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-1.63; p < 0.023) and patients with lung cancer (adjusted HR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.47-2.69; p < 0.001) than in others. Pulmonary hypertension was not associated with mortality. IPF patients with one or more of these three respiratory comorbidities had a poorer survival than others (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory comorbidities, especially bacterial pneumonia and lung cancer, influence mortality in hospitalized patients with IPF.

Clinical characteristics of patients with anti-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase antibody positive idiopathic interstitial pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Anti-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (ARS) antibodies have been detected in patients with polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) and are especially correlated with interstitial lung disease (ILD). The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical features of patients with anti-ARS antibody positive idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs). METHODS: Patients were classified into three groups: 1) IIP with anti-ARS antibodies (ARS(+)IIP), 2) IIP without anti-ARS antibodies (ARS(-)IIP), and 3) PM/DM-associated ILD with anti-ARS antibodies (ARS(+)PM/DM-ILD). Clinical characteristics were compared retrospectively between the ARS(+)IIP group and the ARS(-)IIP group or ARS(+)PM/DM-ILD group. RESULTS: Eighteen ARS(+)IIP, 284 ARS(-)IIP, and 20 ARS(+)PM/DM-ILD patients were enrolled. The ARS(+)IIP group was significantly older and the male sex was predominant, had a lower prevalence of signs of connective tissue disease, differences in HRCT findings and patterns, and higher KL-6 levels compared to the ARS(+)PM/DM-ILD group. The findings in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) showing lymphocytosis and a lower CD4/CD8 ratio were similar between the two groups. However, the ARS(+)IIP group had significantly lower percentage of sputum, higher prevalence of mechanic's hand, higher KL-6 levels, lower percentage of vital capacity in the pulmonary function test, and lower CD4/CD8 ratio in BALF, compared to the ARS(-)IIP group. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated that features of pulmonary involvement were similar to those in the ARS(+)PM/DM-ILD group; however, some differences including HRCT findings and higher KL-6 levels suggest that ARS(+)IIP has severe ILD compared with ARS(+)PM/DM-ILD. Further prospective studies with a larger number of patients will elucidate the exact role of anti-ARS antibodies in IIPs.

Efficacy of concurrent treatments in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients with a rapid progression of respiratory failure: an analysis of a national administrative database in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Some IPF patients show a rapid progression of respiratory failure. Most patients are treated with high-dose corticosteroids. However, no large clinical studies have investigated the prognosis or efficacy of combined treatments including high-dose corticosteroids in IPF patients with a rapid progression of respiratory failure. METHODS: We enrolled IPF patients who received mechanical ventilation and high-dose corticosteroids between April 2010 and March 2013. Records were extracted from a Japanese nationwide inpatient database. We conducted a retrospective epidemiologic and prognostic analysis. RESULTS: Two hundred nine patients receiving an average of 12.8 days of ventilatory support were enrolled. There were 138 (66 %) fatal cases; the median survival was 21 days. The short-term (within 30 days) and long-term (within 90 days) survival rates were 44.6 and 24.6 %, respectively. The average monthly admission rate among the IPF patients with the rapid progression of respiratory failure in the winter was significantly higher than that in spring (p = 0.018). Survival did not differ to a statistically significant extent in the different geographic areas of Japan. Survivors were significantly younger (p = 0.002) with higher rates of mild dyspnea on admission (p = 0.012), they more frequently underwent bronchoscopy (p < 0.001), and received anticoagulants (p = 0.027), co-trimoxazole (p < 0.001) and macrolide (p = 0.02) more frequently than non-survivors. A multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that two factors were significantly associated with a poor prognosis: >80 years of age (OR = 2.94, 95 % Cl 1.044-8.303; p = 0.041) and the intravenous administration of high-dose cyclophosphamide (OR = 3.17, 95 % Cl 1.101-9.148; p = 0.033). Undergoing bronchoscopy during intubation (OR = 0.25, 95 % Cl 0.079-0.798; p = 0.019) and the administration of co-trimoxazole (OR = 0.28, 95 % Cl 0.132-0.607; p = 0.001) and macrolides (OR = 0.37, 95 % Cl 0.155-0.867; p = 0.033) were significantly associated with a good prognosis. The dosage of co-trimoxazole significantly correlated with survival. CONCLUSIONS: Co-trimoxazole and macrolides may be a good addition to high-dose corticosteroids in the treatment of IPF patients with a rapid progression of respiratory failure.

Profibrotic role of WNT10A via TGF-ß signaling in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: WNT/ß-catenin signaling plays an important role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF); however, the role of WNT10A via transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß signaling remains unclear. METHODS: We evaluated the expression of WNT10A and TGF-ß in bleomycin (BLM)-treated mice and the interactions between TGF-ß or BLM and WNT10A in vitro. Additionally, we investigated IPF patients who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery to determine whether the WNT10A expression is related to the survival. RESULTS: Increased WNT10A and TGF-ß expressions were noted in the BLM-treated mice. Real-time PCR and luciferase reporter assays demonstrated the levels of WNT10A and collagen in the fibroblasts cells to increase after TGF-ß administration. Conversely, WNT10A siRNA treatment inhibited the synthesis of collagen in the transfected fibroblasts cells. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated a tendency toward a poor survival among the IPF patients with a WNT10A-positive expression compared to those with a negative expression (Hazard ratio 5.351, 95 % CI 1.703-16.82; p = 0.0041). An overexpression of WNT10A was found to be significantly predictive of an acute exacerbation of IPF (AE-IPF) (Odds ratio 13.69, 95 % CI 1.728-108.5; p = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS: WNT10A plays an important role in the pathogenesis of IPF via TGF-ß activation and it may also be a sensitive predictor for the onset of an AE-IPF.

A rare case of paragonimiasis miyazakii with lung involvement diagnosed 7 years after infection: A case report and literature review.

We report a rare case of pulmonary paragonimiasis caused by Paragonimus miyazakii that showed pulmonary manifestations and a long-term clinical course after infection. A 45-year-old Japanese male developed cough and dyspnea in 2004 and was diagnosed with eosinophilic pneumonia. He had been treated with low-dose oral corticosteroid for 7 years. He recalled that he had consumed a large amount of raw freshwater crab (Geothelphusa dehaani) several weeks before he had been admitted for the first time, and that had been the only occasion when he had eaten this meat. The patient was referred to our hospital due to persistent hemoptysis, and his chest computed tomography scan showed pulmonary nodules and cavities, and his serum total IgE level was elevated. Bronchoscopy was performed, and ova were detected in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. The morphological examination of the ova and immunoserological examination yielded typical findings of P. miyazakii. Treatment with praziquantel improved his chest radiographic findings and a decrease of serum total IgE, as well as the values of immunoserological examination for P. miyazakii. The clinical course of this patient indicated that he had been infected with P. miyazakii for 7 years at least, which is unusual for paragonimiasis miyazakii.

Case of immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related disease diagnosed by transbronchial lung biopsy and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration.

A 62-year-old Japanese man was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of bilateral chest abnormal shadow.His lacrimal, submandibular and parotid glands had been swollen for several years. His serum immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) level was >1,500 mg/dl, and chest computed tomography showed bilateral reticular opacities with enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. Transbronchial lung biopsy and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) results suggested IgG4-related disease. This is the first report, to our knowledge, in the English literature showing EBUS-TBNA to be useful for diagnosing IgG4-related disease.