The dominant theory of Hippocrates was that of the four humours—that when the four humours were in balance health prevailed. Therefore, the main goal of the medical therapy was to restore humoral equilibrium. We read with great interest the article by Hou et al,1 where an imbalance between protective and detrimental subgroups of T regulatory (Treg) cells in patients with COPD is showed. On the contrary with previous studies reporting no significant differences in CD4 foxp3+ T cells between patients with COPD and smokers,2 authors performed an elegant series of experiments and dissected Treg cells into three distinct subpopulations, denominated resting, active and cytokine-secreting Treg cells based on the intensity of foxp3+ expression and the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines i...

Introduction The Study to Understand Mortality and Morbidity in COPD (SUMMIT) is a randomised controlled trial conducted in patients with COPD and comorbid cardiovascular disease, designed to assess the ‘impact of Fluticasone Furoate/Vilanterol combination (FF/VI) and its individual components on the survival of patients with moderate COPD and either a history of CVD or at increased risk for CVD’.1 Fluticasone furoate is an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and vilanterol is a long-acting β-agonist (LABA). The trial is enrolling 16 000 such patients with moderate COPD randomly assigned to once daily treatment with this ICS–LABA combination, the ICS only, the LABA only or placebo. Patients in this event-driven trial will be followed up until 1000 deaths occur, which i...

ConclusionRT can increase functional capacity and muscular function but not cycle endurance capacity and HRQOL in patients with moderate to severe COPD (Source: The Clinical Respiratory Journal)

Abstract Asthma is driven by an inflammatory response against normally harmless environmental anorganic and organic compounds in the respiratory tract. The inflammation is characterized by eosinophilia, goblet cell hyperplasia, bronchial hyperresponsiveness which eventually leads to airway remodeling. Immune responses to airborne pathogens such as viruses and bacteria may reduce the allergic responses but are also known to trigger asthma attacks and eventually leading to severe disease condition. The relationship between inflammation and remodeling and the pathogenic role of viral and bacterial infection in the airways of asthmatic patients is still highly debatable and incompletely understood. This review describes the apparent contradictory interaction of respiratory germs in the airways...