The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure and chronic bronchitis in Taiwanese women.\n\nMethods: We used Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Bureau claims data in 1999, and cross-checked using criteria set by the American Thoracic Society; there were 33 women with chronic bronchitis, 182 with probable chronic bronchitis, and 205 with no chronic bronchitis

during our interview time between 2000 and 2005. We measured second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure by self-reported measures (household users and duration of exposure), and validated this by measuring urinary cotinine levels of a subset subjects. Classification of chronic bronchitis was also based GDC-0068 AG-014699 on spirometry defined according to the GOLD guidelines to get the severity

of COPD.\n\nResults: Women who smoked and women who had been exposed to a lifetime of SHS were 24.81-fold (95% CI: 5.78-106.38) and 3.65-fold (95% CI: 1.19-11.26) more likely to have chronic bronchitis, respectively, than those who had not been exposed to SHS. In addition, there was a significant increasing trend between the severity of COPD and exposure years of SHS (p < 0.01). The population attributable risk percentages of chronic bronchitis for smokers and those exposed to SHS were 23.2 and 47.3% respectively.\n\nConclusions: These findings indicate that, besides cigarette smoking, exposure to SHS is a major risk factor for chronic bronchitis in Taiwanese women.”
“BACKGROUND & AIMS: High serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig)E often are detected in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), but the clinical significance is not known. METHODS: We analyzed data from 44 patients with PSC and known serum levels of IgE. They were divided into groups called high IgE (> 170 IU/mL; n = 17) or normal IgE (n = 27). We compared occurrence SYN-117 of biliary carcinoma including cholangiocellular and gallbladder carcinoma, liver transplantation, and death between groups. RESULTS: The high IgE group had a later age of onset of PSC than the normal IgE group (54 +/- 20

y vs 39 +/- 16 y; P = .010); they also had a higher serum level of IgG (2078 +/- 638 vs 1517 +/- 475 mg/dL; P = .002) and IgG4 (104 +/- 102 vs 38 +/- 16 mg/dL; P = .002). Association with inflammatory bowel disease did not differ significantly between groups (5 of 17 vs 11 of 27; P = .661). No patient had biliary carcinoma in the high IgE group, but biliary carcinoma was observed during the follow-up period in 8 patients in the normal IgE group (0 of 17 vs 8 of 27; P = .016). The occurrence of biliary carcinoma, liver transplantation, or death did not differ between groups (4 of 17 vs 13 of 27; P = .124). CONCLUSIONS: High serum levels of IgE often are observed in older patients with PSC and are associated with a reduced incidence of biliary carcinoma.