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PubMed1990

[Does COPD affect bone mineral content?].

In a retrospective study, 85 COPD patients not treated with steroids, and 78 who received steroid therapy, were compared with a control group of normal subjects (n = 126) matched for age and sex. The determination of the bone mineral content (BMC) was carried out with the aid of two-photon absorption measurement performed in the region of the lumbar spine L2-4 and of the neck of the femur. With respect to the distribution of the bone mineral content as a function of sex and pulmonary function reduction, the following results were obtained: 1. There are significant differences between men and women. The BMC is generally lower in women. 2. Significant differences are to be found between the normal subject group and the steroid-free group on the one hand, and the steroid-treated group on the other. The group receiving steroid treatment has appreciably lower BMC values. 3. There are statistically significant correlations between the severity of airway obstruction and the decrease in BMC both in steroid-treated and steroid-free patients.

Aged↗

PubMed1986

Radionuclides in detecting active granuloma formation. Gallium-67 scintigraphy and histopathology with autoradiographic findings.

Granuloma formation studies were performed on lungs of guinea pigs sensitized with FCA over 2 to 17 months. Prolonged time of sensitization revealed more granulomatous pulmonary tissue. An intravenous booster of FCA in the animals that had been sensitized for 3 months yielded enhanced granuloma formation within 5 days. The histopathology of these lungs was comparable with that seen in lungs of animals after 17 months of sensitization without booster. Enhanced local proliferation of macrophages, measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation and autoradiography, was seen in the lungs of the animals that had received boosters. Moreover, 67Ga scintigraphy was strongly positive in these animals. Scintigraphy of cell suspensions of pulmonary tissue from these animals showed that 67Ga was predominantly taken up (quantitatively as well as qualitatively) by the alveolar macrophages. Cell suspensions of sarcoidosis patients, prepared in the same way, showed only a low level of 67Ga uptake, one comparable to that of the pulmonary cell suspensions of the sensitized animals that had not received boosters. It is suggested that a negative scintigraphy in patients with chronic pulmonary granulomatous disorders could be (partly) explained by the absence of activated macrophages.

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