Viral infection is a common trigger for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of cytokines in AECOPD. Patients with AECOPD requiring hospitalization were recruited. Meanwhile healthy volunteers of similar age that accepted routine check-ups and showed no clinical symptoms of inflammatory diseases were also recruited. Induced sputum and serum were collected. Induced sputum of participants was processed and tested for thirteen viruses and bacteria. Forty cytokines were assayed in serum using the Quantibody Human Inflammation Array 3 (Ray Biotech, Inc.). The most common virus detected in virus positive AECOPD (VP) was influenza A (16%). No virus was found in controls. Circulating levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1 were elevated in VP and coinfection subjects (p < 0.05), while the levels of 37 other cytokines showed no difference, compared with virus negative groups and controls (p > 0.05). Additionally, VP patients were less likely to have received influenza vaccination. VP patients had a systemic inflammation response involving IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1 which may be due to virus-induced activation of macrophages. There are important opportunities for further investigating AECOPD mechanisms and for the development of better strategies in the management and prevention of virus-related AECOPD.

Epidemiological studies have verified the critical role that antioxidative stress plays in protecting vascular endothelial cells. The aims of the present study were to investigate the antioxidative activities and differential regulation of nuclear erythroid-related factor 2- (Nrf2-) mediated gene expression by Xueshuan Xinmaining Tablet (XXT), a traditional Chinese medicine with the effect of treating cardiovascular diseases. The antioxidative activities of XXT were investigated using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), a PCR array, and western blotting. Our results indicated that XXT exhibited potent antioxidative activities by suppressing the levels of hydrogen peroxide- (H2O2-) induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). We were also conscious of strong Nrf2-mediated antioxidant induction. XXT enhanced the expressions of Keap1, Nrf2, and Nrf2-mediated genes, such as glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier subunit (GCLM), NAD(P)H: quinine oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX1), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in HUVECs. In summary, XXT strongly activated Nrf2 and its downstream regulated genes, which may contribute to the antioxidative and vascular endothelial cell protective activities of XXT.

Inflammation is a complex biological response to detrimental stimuli and can be a double-edged sword. Inflammation plays a protective role in removing pathogenic factors, but dysregulated inflammation is associated with several major fatal diseases such as asthma, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Asthma is a complex heterogenous disease caused by genetic and environmental factors. TLRs are the primary proteins associated with the innate and adaptive immune responses to these fatal factors and play an important role in recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which initiates the downstream immune response. Due to the complex TLRs cascade and nowadays unsuccessful control in asthma, new studies are focused on TLRs and other potential targets in TLR cascade to minimize airway inflammation.