J-MedicalInfo: Bronchodilator medication
Smokers without airflow limitation had a normal lung function test results with no history of lung disease and a smoking history of > 10 pack-years. None of the patients had a history of atopy or evidence of atopy based on skin-prick testing for common aeroallergens. Subjects who had had a respiratory tract infection or exacerbation of the airway disease within the previous 8 weeks and those receiving systemic or topical corticosteroids during the previous 12 weeks were excluded from the study.
Bronchodilator medication was withheld 24 h before bronchoscopy. All patients gave written informed consent, and the study was approved by the local ethics committee.
Patients underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopy under light sedation. Bronchial epithelium was obtained by gentle brushing of segmental and subsegmental bronchi under direct visual guidance by means of a protected brush. Each patient underwent 20 to 30 brushes of the bronchial epithelium. Brushing was accomplished by a very light gliding motion along the surfaces of the airways. In cases where lung cancer was suspected, brushes were performed from the contralateral side to preserve maximum distance to the tumor. Brushes were immediately placed in ice-cold culture medium and transported directly to the laboratory for further processing.
Culture of PBECs and Cialis Australia
Brushes were vortexed vigorously, and the harvested cell suspension was filtered through a 200-pm filter (Millipore; Billerica, MA) filter to remove mucus and cellular debris, and then treated with 4.8 U/mL Dispase II (Roche; Mannheim, Germany) to eliminate cell clumping. The cells were then centrifuged at 150g for 10 min, and the pellet was resuspended in cell culture medium. Cell number was determined using a hemocytometer. Cell viability was determined by Trypan blue exclusion. Cells were resuspended in serum-free bronchial epithelial cell growth medium (Promocell; Freiburg, Germany) supplemented with a variety of growth factors, including bovine pituitary extract (0.052 mg/mL), recombinant human epidermal growth factor (0.5 ng/mL), insulin (5 pg/mL), hydrocortisone (0.5 pg/mL), epinephrine (0.5 pg/mL), triiodothyronine (6.5 ng/mL), transferrin (0.01 mg/mL), and retinoic acid (0.1 ng/mL). In addition, the medium contained penicillin G (100 U/mL), streptomycin (100 pg/mL), and amphotericin B (0.25 pg/mL) [In-vitrogen; Karlsruhe, Germany].