Despite improvements in survival of preterm infants, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) remains a persistent morbidity. The incidence, clinical course, and current management of severe BPD (sBPD) ...remain to be defined. To address these knowledge gaps, a multicenter collaborative was formed to improve outcomes in this population.
We performed a "snapshot" in eight neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) on December 17, 2013. A standardized clinical data form for each inpatient born at < 32 weeks was completed and collated centrally for analysis. sBPD was defined as receiving ≥ 30% supplemental oxygen and/or receiving positive pressure ventilation at 36 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA).
Of a total census of 710 inpatients, 351 infants were born at < 32 weeks and 128 of those (36.5%) met criteria for sBPD. The point prevalence of sBPD varied between centers (11-58%; p < 0.001). Among infants with sBPD there was a variation among centers in the use of mechanical ventilation at 28 days of life (p < 0.001) and at 36 weeks PMA (p = 0.001). We observed differences in the use of diuretics (p = 0.018), inhaled corticosteroids (p < 0.001), and inhaled β-agonists (p < 0.001).
The high point prevalence of sBPD and variable management among NICUs emphasizes the lack of evidence in guiding optimal care to improve long-term outcomes of this high-risk, understudied population.
Mutations in the gene encoding the bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II (BMPR2) are the commonest genetic cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, the effect of BMPR2 mutations ...on clinical phenotype and outcomes remains uncertain.
We analysed individual participant data of 1550 patients with idiopathic, heritable, and anorexigen-associated PAH from eight cohorts that had been systematically tested for BMPR2 mutations. The primary outcome was the composite of death or lung transplantation. All-cause mortality was the secondary outcome. Hazard ratios (HRs) for death or transplantation and all-cause mortality associated with the presence of BMPR2 mutation were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models stratified by cohort.
Overall, 448 (29%) of 1550 patients had a BMPR2 mutation. Mutation carriers were younger at diagnosis (mean age 35·4 SD 14·8 vs 42·0 17·8 years), had a higher mean pulmonary artery pressure (60·5 13·8 vs 56·4 15·3 mm Hg) and pulmonary vascular resistance (16·6 8·3 vs 12·9 8·3 Wood units), and lower cardiac index (2·11 0·69 vs 2·51 0·92 L/min per m2; all p<0·0001). Patients with BMPR2 mutations were less likely to respond to acute vasodilator testing (3% 10 of 380 vs 16% 147 of 907; p<0·0001). Among the 1164 individuals with available survival data, age-adjusted and sex-adjusted HRs comparing BMPR2 mutation carriers with non-carriers were 1·42 (95% CI 1·15–1·75; p=0·0011) for the composite of death or lung transplantation and 1·27 (1·00–1·60; p=0·046) for all-cause mortality. These HRs were attenuated after adjustment for potential mediators including pulmonary vascular resistance, cardiac index, and vasoreactivity. HRs for death or transplantation and all-cause mortality associated with BMPR2 mutation were similar in men and women, but higher in patients with a younger age at diagnosis (p=0·0030 for death or transplantation, p=0·011 for all-cause mortality).
Patients with PAH and BMPR2 mutations present at a younger age with more severe disease, and are at increased risk of death, and death or transplantation, compared with those without BMPR2 mutations.
Cambridge NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, INSERM, Université Paris-Sud, Intermountain Research and Medical Foundation, Vanderbilt University, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Beijing Natural Science Foundation.
A novel channelopathy in pulmonary arterial hypertension Ma, Lijiang; Roman-Campos, Danilo; Austin, Eric D ...
New England journal of medicine/The New England journal of medicine,
07/2013, Letnik:
369, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a devastating disease with high mortality. Familial cases of pulmonary arterial hypertension are usually characterized by autosomal dominant transmission with ...reduced penetrance, and some familial cases have unknown genetic causes.
We studied a family in which multiple members had pulmonary arterial hypertension without identifiable mutations in any of the genes known to be associated with the disease, including BMPR2, ALK1, ENG, SMAD9, and CAV1. Three family members were studied with whole-exome sequencing. Additional patients with familial or idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension were screened for the mutations in the gene that was identified on whole-exome sequencing. All variants were expressed in COS-7 cells, and channel function was studied by means of patch-clamp analysis.
We identified a novel heterozygous missense variant c.608 G→A (G203D) in KCNK3 (the gene encoding potassium channel subfamily K, member 3) as a disease-causing candidate gene in the family. Five additional heterozygous missense variants in KCNK3 were independently identified in 92 unrelated patients with familial pulmonary arterial hypertension and 230 patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. We used in silico bioinformatic tools to predict that all six novel variants would be damaging. Electrophysiological studies of the channel indicated that all these missense mutations resulted in loss of function, and the reduction in the potassium-channel current was remedied by the application of the phospholipase inhibitor ONO-RS-082.
Our study identified the association of a novel gene, KCNK3, with familial and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. Mutations in this gene produced reduced potassium-channel current, which was successfully remedied by pharmacologic manipulation. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health.)
Background and Aims
Portopulmonary hypertension (POPH) was previously associated with a single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs7175922 in aromatase (cytochrome P450 family 19 subfamily A member 1 ...CYP19A1). We sought to determine whether genetic variants and metabolites in the estrogen signaling pathway are associated with POPH.
Approach and Results
We performed a multicenter case‐control study. POPH patients had mean pulmonary artery pressure >25 mm Hg, pulmonary vascular resistance >240 dyn‐sec/cm−5, and pulmonary artery wedge pressure ≤15 mm Hg without another cause of pulmonary hypertension. Controls had advanced liver disease, right ventricular (RV) systolic pressure <40 mm Hg, and normal RV function by echocardiography. We genotyped three SNPs in CYP19A1 and CYP1B1 using TaqMan and imputed SNPs in estrogen receptor 1 using genome‐wide markers. Estrogen metabolites were measured in blood and urine samples. There were 37 patients with POPH and 290 controls. Mean age was 57 years, and 36% were female. The risk allele A in rs7175922 (CYP19A1) was significantly associated with higher levels of estradiol (P = 0.02) and an increased risk of POPH (odds ratio OR, 2.36; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.12‐4.91; P = 0.02) whereas other SNPs were not. Lower urinary 2‐hydroxyestrogen/16‐α‐hydroxyestrone (OR per 1‐ln decrease = 2.04; 95% CI, 1.16‐3.57; P = 0.01), lower plasma levels of dehydroepiandrosterone‐sulfate (OR per 1‐ln decrease = 2.38; 95% CI, 1.56‐3.85; P < 0.001), and higher plasma levels of 16‐α‐hydroxyestradiol (OR per 1‐ln increase = 2.16; 95% CI, 1.61‐2.98; P < 0.001) were associated with POPH.
Conclusions
Genetic variation in aromatase and changes in estrogen metabolites were associated with POPH.
Increased oestrogen is a strong epidemiological risk factor for development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients, associated with metabolic defects. In addition, oestrogens drive ...penetrance in mice carrying mutations in bone morphogenetic protein receptor type II (BMPR2), the cause of most heritable PAH. The goal of the present study was to determine whether inhibition of oestrogens was effective in the treatment of PAH in these mice.The oestrogen inhibitors fulvestrant and anastrozole were used in a prevention and treatment paradigm in BMPR2 mutant mice, and tamoxifen was used for treatment. In addition, BMPR2 mutant mice were crossed onto oestrogen receptor (ESR)1 and ESR2 knockout backgrounds to assess receptor specificity. Haemodynamic and metabolic outcomes were measured.Oestrogen inhibition both prevented and treated PAH in BMPR2 mutant mice. This was associated with reduction in metabolic defects including oxidised lipid formation, insulin resistance and rescue of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ and CD36. The effect was mediated primarily through ESR2, but partially through ESR1.Our data suggest that trials of oestrogen inhibition in human PAH are warranted, and may improve pulmonary vascular disease through amelioration of metabolic defects. Although fulvestrant and anastrozole were more effective than tamoxifen, tamoxifen may be useful in premenopausal females, because of a reduced risk of induction of menopause.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a fatal disease that results from cardio-pulmonary dysfunction with the pathology largely unknown. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) is an ...important member of the insulin-like growth factor family, with evidence suggesting elevation in PAH patients. We investigated the diagnostic and prognostic value of serum IGFBP2 in PAH to determine if it could discriminate PAH from healthy controls and if it was associated with disease severity and survival.
Serum IGFBP2 levels, as well as IGF1/2 levels, were measured in two independent PAH cohorts, the Johns Hopkins Pulmonary Hypertension program (JHPH, N = 127), NHLBI PAHBiobank (PAHB, N = 203), and a healthy control cohort (N = 128). The protein levels in lung tissues were determined by western blot. The IGFBP2 mRNA expression levels in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC) and endothelial cells (PAEC) were assessed by RNA-seq, secreted protein levels by ELISA. Association of biomarkers with clinical variables was evaluated using adjusted linear or logistic regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis.
In both PAH cohorts, serum IGFBP2 levels were significantly elevated (p < 0.0001) compared to controls and discriminated PAH from controls with an AUC of 0.76 (p < 0.0001). A higher IGFBP2 level was associated with a shorter 6-min walk distance (6MWD) in both cohorts after adjustment for age and sex (coefficient - 50.235 and - 57.336 respectively). Cox multivariable analysis demonstrated that higher serum IGFBP2 was a significant independent predictor of mortality in PAHB cohort only (HR, 3.92; 95% CI, 1.37-11.21). IGF1 levels were significantly increased only in the PAHB cohort; however, neither IGF1 nor IGF2 had equivalent levels of associations with clinical variables compared with IGFBP2. Western blotting shown that IGFBP2 protein was significantly increased in the PAH vs control lung tissues. Finally, IGFBP2 mRNA expression and secreted protein levels were significantly higher in PASMC than in PAEC.
IGFBP2 protein expression was increased in the PAH lung, and secreted by PASMC. Elevated circulating IGFBP2 was associated with PAH severity and mortality and is a potentially valuable prognostic marker in PAH.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a significant contributor to morbidity and death in infants who are born premature. Male sex is an independent risk factor for the development of BPD. However, ...whether male sex is associated with adverse outcomes that occur after formal diagnosis of severe BPD prior to hospital discharge remains unclear.
Is male sex associated with a higher risk of adverse outcomes in infants with established severe BPD?
A retrospective, multicenter cohort study of infants enrolled in the BPD Collaborative Registry from January 1, 2015, to June 29, 2022, was performed. Demographics, clinical characteristics, and outcomes were stratified by sex (ie, male vs female). Regression modeling was used to estimate the association of sex with the primary composite outcome of death or tracheostomy at hospital discharge.
We identified 1,156 infants with severe BPD, defined at 36 weeks postmenstrual age by the National Institutes of Health 2001 consensus definition. The cohort was predominantly male (59% male infants, 41% female infants). However, rates of mechanical ventilation at 36 weeks postmenstrual age (ie, type 2 severe BPD) did not differ by sex. Overall mortality rates within the cohort were low (male infants, 5.3%; female infants, 3.6%). The OR of death or tracheostomy for male-to-female infants was 1.0 (95% CI, 0.7-1.5).
Our results lead us to speculate that, although sex is an important variable that contributes to the development and pathogenesis of severe BPD, it does not appear to be associated with adverse outcomes in this cohort of infants with established disease. The surprising results raise important questions surrounding the temporal role of biological sex in the development of severe BPD and its progression during the neonatal ICU stay. As we explore the phenotypes and endotypes of BPD, it is imperative to consider how sex modulates the disease from birth through hospital discharge.
The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-6 has been associated with outcomes in small pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cohorts composed largely of patients with severe idiopathic PAH ...(IPAH). It is unclear whether IL-6 is a marker of critical illness or a mechanistic biomarker of pulmonary vascular remodelling. We hypothesised that IL-6 is produced by pulmonary vascular cells and sought to explore IL-6 associations with phenotypes and outcomes across diverse subtypes in a large PAH cohort.IL-6 protein and gene expression levels were measured in cultured pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and endothelial cells (PAECs) from PAH patients and healthy controls. Serum IL-6 was measured in 2017 well-characterised PAH subjects representing each PAH subgroup. Relationships between IL-6 levels, clinical variables, and mortality were analysed using regression models.Significantly higher IL-6 protein and gene expression levels were produced by PASMCs than by PAECs in PAH (p<0.001), while there was no difference in IL-6 between cell types in controls. Serum IL-6 was highest in PAH related to portal hypertension and connective tissue diseases (CTD-PAH). In multivariable modelling, serum IL-6 was associated with survival in the overall cohort (hazard ratio 1.22, 95% CI 1.08-1.38; p<0.01) and in IPAH, but not in CTD-PAH. IL-6 remained associated with survival in low-risk subgroups of subjects with mild disease.IL-6 is released from PASMCs, and circulating IL-6 is associated with specific clinical phenotypes and outcomes in various PAH subgroups, including subjects with less severe disease. IL-6 is a mechanistic biomarker, and thus a potential therapeutic target, in certain PAH subgroups.