Lung tissue expression of epithelial injury markers is associated with acute lung injury severity but does not discriminate sepsis from ARDS.

BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a common cause of respiratory failure in critically ill patients, and diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) is considered its histological hallmark. Sepsis is one of the most common aetiology of ARDS with the highest case-fatality rate. Identifying ARDS patients and differentiate them from other causes of acute respiratory failure remains a challenge. To address this, many studies have focused on identifying biomarkers that can help assess lung epithelial injury. However, there is scarce information available regarding the tissue expression of these markers. Evaluating the expression of elafin, RAGE, and SP-D in lung tissue offers a potential bridge between serological markers and the underlying histopathological changes. Therefore, we hypothesize that the expression of epithelial injury markers varies between sepsis and ARDS as well as according to its severity. METHODS: We compared the post-mortem lung tissue expression of the epithelial injury markers RAGE, SP-D, and elafin of patients that died of sepsis, ARDS, and controls that died from non-pulmonary causes. Lung tissue was collected during routine autopsy and protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry. We also assessed the lung injury by a semi-quantitative analysis. RESULTS: We observed that all features of DAD were milder in septic group compared to ARDS group. Elafin tissue expression was increased and SP-D was decreased in the sepsis and ARDS groups. Severe ARDS expressed higher levels of elafin and RAGE, and they were negatively correlated with PaO2/FiO2 ratio, and positively correlated with bronchopneumonia percentage and hyaline membrane score. RAGE tissue expression was negatively correlated with mechanical ventilation duration in both ARDS and septic groups. In septic patients, elafin was positively correlated with ICU admission length, SP-D was positively correlated with serum lactate and RAGE was correlated with C-reactive protein. CONCLUSIONS: Lung tissue expression of elafin and RAGE, but not SP-D, is associated with ARDS severity, but does not discriminate sepsis patients from ARDS patients.

Onde trabalham os médicos formados na Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo? Um estudo transversal observacional / Where do doctors graduated from the Medical School of the University of São Paulo work? An observational cross-sectional study

Conhecer a inserção e a atuação dos profissionais de saúde depois de formados contribui para o aprimoramento das instituições formadoras e para o planejamento de políticas públicas de educação e saúde. O objetivo do presente estudo é avaliar a inserção no mercado de trabalho e no sistema de saúde dos médicos formados pela Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo nos anos de 1999, 2000, 2009 e 2010. Para as características demográficas e de formação dos médicos foi utilizada a base de dados do estudo Demografia Médica no Brasil. Os dados sobre vínculos de trabalho foram extraídos de 4 plataformas digitais, e permitiram caracterizar a inserção dessa população: Plataforma Lattes, Cadastro Nacional de Estabelecimentos de Saúde, LinkedIn e Doctoralia. Dos 602 médicos estudados, 63,1% eram homens, com idade média de 44,7 anos; a maioria trabalhava em dupla prática pública e privada, enquanto uma minoria, apenas no Sistema Único de Saúde. O vínculo mais frequente foi com hospitais e houve baixa frequência de médicos na atenção primária. Manter a capacidade de formar especialistas em áreas fundamentais, além de fomentar vocações para a atenção primária, essencial ao sistema de saúde, é um desafio curricular e institucional a ser repensado. O estudo pode ser reproduzido para acompanhar a inserção profissional e o retorno social dos recursos humanos em saúde egressos de instituições de ensino

Understanding the insertion of health professionals after graduation contributes to the improvement of educational institutions and planning of public health and education policies. The objective of this study is to evaluate the insertion in the job market and in the healthcare system of University of São Paulo Medical School alumni graduated in 1999, 2000, 2009 and 2010. The database from the Brazilian Medical Demographic study was used to collect individual data of the subjects. Their employment bonds were extracted from four digital platforms, which were effective in characterizing their work insertion: Lattes platform, National Registry of Health Institutions, LinkedIn and Doctoralia. Of the 602 doctors analyzed, 63.1% were men, the mean age was 44.7 years and the majority worked both in the public and private health sectors, while a minority worked exclusively at the Unified Health System. The most common workplace were hospitals and there was a low percentage of doctors in Primary Health Care. Maintaining the ability to train specialists in key areas while also promoting careers in primary care, which are essential to the healthcare system, is a curricular and institutional challenge that needs to be tackled. This study may be reproduced to monitor the professional insertion and the social return of human resources for health among health institution's alumni

Air pollution impairs recovery and tissue remodeling in a murine model of acute lung injury.

Evidence regarding the impact of air pollution on acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is limited, and most studies focus on ARDS onset. Our study aimed to evaluate whether exposure to fine particulate matter interferes with lung recovery and remodeling in a murine model of acute lung injury. Forty-eight mice received nebulized LPS or the vehicle (controls). Blood, BALF, lungs and spleen were collected after 5 weeks of exposure to either PM2.5 (PM and LPS + PM group) or filtered air (control and LPS5w groups). Inflammatory cells and cytokines were assessed in the blood, BALF, lungs and spleen. Stereological analyses and remodeling assessments were performed by histology. The LPS + PM group showed increased BALF leukocytes, characterized by increased macrophages, increased IL-1ß and IL-6 levels, anemia and thrombocytopenia. Moreover, we also observed septal thickening, decreased alveolar air space total volume and, septa surface density. Finally, regarding tissue remodeling, we observed elastosis of the lung parenchyma, and unlike in the LPS5w group, we did not observe fibrosis in the LPS + PM group. In conclusion, the delayed inflammation resolution due to subchronic exposure to PM2.5 could be influenced by low systemic and local lymphocyte counts, which lead to impaired lung injury recovery and tissue remodeling.