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Objective Idiopathic inflammatory myositis-associated interstitial lung disease (IIM-ILD) significantly increases morbidity and mortality. Lung ultrasound B-lines and Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) are identified as new sonographic and serum markers of ILD, respectively. The aim of our work was to assess the role of B-lines and KL-6 as markers of the severity of IIM-ILD. For this purpose, the correlation among B-lines score, serum KL-6 levels, high-resolution CT (HRCT) score, and pulmonary function tests were investigated in IIM-ILD patients. Methods Thirty-eight patients with IIM-ILD underwent chest HRCT scans, lung ultrasound and pulmonary function tests (independently performed within 1 week) examination. To assess severity and extent of ILD at HRCT, the Warrick score was used. The B-lines score denoting the extension of ILD was calculated by summing the number of B-lines on a total of 50 scanning sites. Serum KL-6 levels (U/ml) was measured by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay. Results A significant correlation was found between the B-lines score and serum KL-6 levels (r  = 0.43, P  < 0.01), and between the Warrick score and serum KL-6 levels (r  = 0.45, P  < 0.01). A positive correlation between B-lines score and the Warrick score (r  = 0.87, P  < 0.0001) was also confirmed. Both B-lines score and KL-6 levels inversely correlated to diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (r  = −0.77, P  < 0.0001 and r  = −0.42, P  < 0.05, respectively) and total lung capacity (r  = −0.73, P  < 0.0001 and r  = −0.36, P  < 0.05, respectively). Moreover, B-lines correlated inversely with forced vital capacity (r  = −0.73, P  < 0.0001), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (r  = −0.69, P  < 0.0001). Conclusion B-lines score and serum KL-6 levels correlate with HRCT findings and pulmonary function tests, supporting their use as measures of IIM-ILD severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although nerve fibres are present in eutopic and ectopic endometrium, it is unclear whether they appear in ovarian endometriotic lesions. We investigated the presence of nerve fibres in ovarian endometriotic lesions and its correlation with clinical parameters in women with ovarian endometriosis.Methods: Histological sections of ovarian endometriotic lesions from 61 women with ovarian endometriosis (Stages II-IV) who underwent laparoscopic endometrioma cystectomy were stained immunohistochemically using a specific polyclonal rabbit anti-protein gene product 9.5 (PGP9.5) antibody to demonstrate myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibres.Results: Nerve fibres stained with PGP9.5 were detected in ovarian endometriotic lesions in 31.1% of women, and most appeared in fibrotic interstitium of ovarian endometriotic lesions. The density of PGP9.5-immunoactive fibres in ovarian endometriotic lesions in women with pain symptoms (n = 35) was higher than in women with no pain symptoms (n = 26, P = 0.039), although the percentage (positive cases/total) of PGP9.5-positive fibres did not differ. In women with pain symptoms, PGP9.5-positive fibres appeared in 40.0% of cases and the density of PGP9.5-immunoactive fibres in ovarian endometriotic lesions was correlated with severity of pain symptoms (r = 0.466, P = 0.005). In women with no pain, PGP9.5-positive fibres were detected in only 5 (19.2%) women. Both the percentage and the density of PGP9.5-positive fibres in ovarian endometriotic lesions were associated with pelvic adhesions (chi2 = 6.833, P = 0.009; Z = 2.442, P = 0.015, respectively) but not with disease severity.Conclusions: PGP9.5-immunoactive nerve fibres in ovarian endometriotic lesions may be involved in the pathophysiology of pain generation and pelvic adhesion formation in women with ovarian endometriosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]