Attracting the attention of the medical community, exhaled breath condensate is a completely non-invasive method for sampling secretions from the airways. Analysis of exhaled breath condensate is potentially useful for monitoring airway inflammation and in pharmacological therapy. With its non-invasive nature, this method may be suitable for longit
Targeting Chronic Inflammatory Lung Diseases Using Advanced Drug Delivery Systems explores the development of novel therapeutics and diagnostics to improve pulmonary disease management, looking down to the nanoscale level for an efficient system of targeting and managing respiratory disease. The book examines numerous nanoparticle-based drug systems such as nanocrystals, dendrimers, polymeric micelles, protein-based, carbon nanotube, and liposomes that can offer advantages over traditional drug delivery systems. Starting with a brief introduction on different types of nanoparticles in respiratory disease conditions, the book then focuses on current trends in disease pathology that use different in vitro and in vivo models. The comprehensive resource is designed for those new to the field and to specialized scientists and researchers involved in pulmonary research and drug development. - Explores recent perspectives and challenges regarding the management and diagnosis of chronic respiratory diseases - Provides insights into how advanced drug delivery systems can be effectively formulated and delivered for the management of various pulmonary diseases - Includes the most recent information on diagnostic methods and treatment strategies using controlled drug delivery systems (including nanotechnology)
This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.
There is a widespread consensus that use of antioxidants as a therapeutic approach may counteract free radical mediated pathologies. However, the role of antioxidants in normal physiology and redox signaling is still in its infancy. Since oxidative stress is related to various diseases and pathologies, scientists are eager to study the disease in humans, but it is not always ethical to study all the aspects of the disease in humans. Thus, it becomes mandatory to study the disease process and the mechanisms behind it through experimental models which generally involve animals, in vitro/cell culture studies, primates and even humans to a certain extent. Studies on Experimental Models contains data on the experimental models or review of such models of oxidative stress in various diseases. It is structured into six sections, which are as follows: diabetes, cardiovascular, neurology, ocular diseases, toxicology/environmental and in vitro/tissue culture. Each section presents a sketch of models in humans, animals and in vitro methods. Taken together, they comprise a valuable reference for basic and clinical scientists, one aimed at contributing to the advancement of oxidative stress research using appropriate animal models.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath, sweat or urine carry much information on the state of human health. The role of VOCs in clinical diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring is expected to become increasingly significant due to recent advances in the field. Volatile Biomarkers: Non-Invasive Diagnosis in Physiology and Medicine includes the latest discoveries and applications for VOCs from the world's foremost scientists and clinicians working in this emerging analytic area. - Appeals to a multidisciplinary audience, including scientists, researchers, and clinicians with an interest in breath analysis - Features the latest scientific research and technical breakthroughs in the diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of volatile organic compounds - Includes case presentations documenting applications in multiple areas of human health and safety
Studying the lung microbiome requires a specialist approach to sampling, laboratory techniques and statistical analysis. This Monograph introduces the techniques used and discusses how respiratory sampling, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, metagenomics and the application of ecological theory can be used to examine the respiratory microbiome. It examines the different components of the respiratory microbiome: viruses and fungi in addition to the more frequently studied bacteria. It also considers a range of contexts from the paediatric microbiome and how this develops to disease of all ages including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic suppurative lung diseases, interstitial lung diseases, acquired pneumonias, transplantation, cancer and HIV, and the interaction of the respiratory microbiome and the environment.
This book investigates the emerging use of biomarkers as a diagnostic tool for the identification of patients with an abnormal condition or as a tool for staging the extent of disease, as an indicator of disease prognosis. Chapters in Part I focus on biomarkers for cancer, including breast cancer and pancreatic cancer, as well as circulating microRNA profiling in cancer biomarker discovery. Chapters in Part II focus on biomarkers of other diagnoses/diseases, including sepsis, childhood renal diseases, pulmonary diseases, Alzheimer's, leishmaniasis, and heart failure. This book investigates the emerging use of biomarkers as a diagnostic tool for the identification of patients with an abnormal condition or as a tool for staging the extent of disease, as an indicator of diseases prognosis. The book is of considerable importance for a broad range of people including researchers, clinicians, and university students.
This book is a guide to new and emerging PET technology, instrumentation, and its place in clinical practice. PET technology is currently moving from the conventional photomultiplier tube (PMT) detector based PET to the new generation, solid state light sensor detector. This is a technological leap and holds significant implications for the use of PET imaging. This book introduces and describes the emerging and new generation of PET instrumentations and technologies across manufactures, focusing on solid-state PET detector designs, system characteristics, and clinical practices as well as future advanced Time-of-Flight (TOF) PET technologies. Organized into three sections, the basics of PET imaging; solid state digital PET instrumentation, technology, and clinical practice; and a look to the future of PET imaging, chapters present a full picture of PET imaging, where we are and where we will be. Nuclear medicine physicians, physicists, and technologists can use this book to better understand future PET systems, novel PET technologies, and potential game changes of clinical PET practice.
Asthma remains a serious health concern for millions of people globally. Despite continuing research interest, there have been few advancements that impact clinically on patient care, potentially because asthma has been treated as a homogeneous entity, rather than the heterogeneous condition it is. This book introduces cutting-edge research, which targets specific phenotypes of asthma, highlighting the differences that are present within this disease, and the varying approaches that are utilized to understand it.
