Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated.

-VEGF signaling inhibition decreases alveolar and vessel growth in the developing lung, suggesting that impaired VEGF signaling may contribute to decreased lung growth in bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Whether VEGF treatment improves lung structure in experimental models of BPD is unknown. The objective was to determine whether VEGF treatment enhances alveolarization in infant rats after hyperoxia. Two-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were placed into hyperoxia or room air (RA) for 12 days. At 14 days, rats received daily treatment with rhVEGF-165 or saline. On day 22, rats were killed. Tissue was collected. Morphometrics was assessed by radial alveolar counts (RAC), mean linear intercepts (MLI), and skeletonization. Compared with RA controls, hyperoxia decreased RAC (6.1 Ϯ 0.4 vs. 11.3 Ϯ 0.4, P Ͻ 0.0001), increased MLI (59.2 Ϯ 1.8 vs. 44.0 Ϯ 0.8, P Ͻ 0.0001), decreased nodal point density (447 Ϯ 14 vs. 503 Ϯ 12, P Ͻ 0.0004), and decreased vessel density (11.7 Ϯ 0.3 vs. 18.9 Ϯ 0.3, P Ͻ 0.001), which persisted despite RA recovery. Compared with hyperoxic controls, rhVEGF treatment after hyperoxia increased RAC (11.8 Ϯ 0.5, P Ͻ 0.0001), decreased MLI (42.2 Ϯ 1.2, P Ͻ 0.0001), increased nodal point density (502 Ϯ 7, P Ͻ 0.0005), and increased vessel density (23.2 Ϯ 0.4, P Ͻ 0.001). Exposure of neonatal rats to hyperoxia impairs alveolarization and vessel density, which persists despite RA recovery. rhVEGF treatment during recovery enhanced vessel growth and alveolarization. We speculate that lung structure abnormalities after hyperoxia may be partly due to impaired VEGF signaling. bronchopulmonary dysplasia; lung development; vascular endothelial growth factor; angiogenesis BRONCHOPULMONARY DYSPLASIA (BPD) is the chronic lung disease of infancy that follows ventilator and oxygen therapy for respiratory distress syndrome after premature birth (37). Although the mechanisms that cause BPD are not completely understood, surfactant deficiency, ventilator-induced lung injury, oxygen toxicity, and inflammation are important pathogenic factors (21). Traditionally, BPD has been characterized by severe chronic lung injury with striking fibrosis and cellular proliferation. With advancements in perinatal care including exogenous surfactant administration, improved ventilator management, and antenatal steroids, the clinical course and lung histology of BPD have changed. Infants with BPD now have less severe acute respiratory disease, and at autopsy, lung histology is characterized by arrested lung development including alveolar simplification and dysmorphic vascular growth (1,18,21,37).Mechanisms that impair lung growth and cause persistent abnormalities in lung structure in premature infants with BPD remain poorly understood. Recently, experimental studies have shown that growth of the pulmonary circulation and alveolarization are closely coordinated, as demonstrated by findings that disruption of angiogenesis impairs lung structure (20). Treatment of neonatal rats with antiangiogenic agents, including fumagillin and thalidomide...

These ATS-sponsored technical standards describe the equipment, personnel, competencies, and special procedures associated with FAE in children.

Rationale: In cystic fibrosis (CF), pulmonary exacerbations present an opportunity to define the effect of antibiotic therapy on systemic measures of inflammation.Objectives: Investigate whether plasma inflammatory proteins demonstrate and predict a clinical response to antibiotic therapy and determine which proteins are associated with measures of clinical improvement.Methods: In this multicenter study, a panel of 15 plasma proteins was measured at the onset and end of treatment for pulmonary exacerbation and at a clinically stable visit in patients with CF who were 10 years of age or older.Measurements and Main Results: Significant reductions in 10 plasma proteins were observed in 103 patients who had paired blood collections during antibiotic treatment for pulmonary exacerbations. Plasma C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, calprotectin, and neutrophil elastase antiprotease complexes correlated most strongly with clinical measures at exacerbation onset. Reductions in C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, IL-1ra, and haptoglobin were most associated with improvements in lung function with antibiotic therapy. Having higher IL-6, IL-8, and a 1 -antitrypsin (a1AT) levels at exacerbation onset were associated with an increased risk of being a nonresponder (i.e., failing to recover to baseline FEV 1 ). Baseline IL-8, neutrophil elastase antiprotease complexes, and a1AT along with changes in several plasma proteins with antibiotic treatment, in combination with FEV 1 at exacerbation onset, were predictive of being a treatment responder. Conclusions:Circulating inflammatory proteins demonstrate and predict a response to treatment of CF pulmonary exacerbations. A systemic biomarker panel could speed up drug discovery, leading to a quicker, more efficient drug development process for the CF community.