Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine – Research Update – October 2022
November 30, 2022
Catch up with UPMC Children’s Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine research news. Below are several new and noteworthy studies recently published by Division faculty. Links to the papers and journal pages are provided for further reading.
New Immunology Research from the Alcorn Laboratory
Led by John F. Alcorn, PhD, professor of Pediatrics and associate director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research, the Alcorn Laboratory at UPMC Children’s and the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine studies pulmonary immunity, host defense, epithelial cell biology, and lung physiology in the context of pediatric diseases, and in particular influenza.
Dr. Alcorn and colleagues have two recent papers out in the journals Microbiology Spectrum and the Journal of Immunology, respectively.
The first study deals with pulmonary infection and staphylococcus aureus, a common yet troubling bacteria that can often complicate viral infections affecting the lungs. In the latter paper, Dr. Alcorn and colleagues present new findings on how influenza infection and the immunity derived from it influence the immune system’s response to a subsequent infection and secondary bacterial infection.
- Grousd JA, Dresden BP, Riesmeyer AM, Cooper VS, Bomberger JM, Richardson AR, Alcorn JF. Novel Requirement for Staphylococcal Cell Wall-Anchored Protein SasD in Pulmonary Infection. Microbiol Spectr. 2022 Aug 30: e0164522. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01645-22. Online ahead of print. PMID: 36040164 Free article.
- Cipolla EM, Yue M, Nickolich KL, Huckestein BR, Antos D, Chen W, Alcorn JF. J Immunol. 2022 Heterotypic Influenza Infections Mitigate Susceptibility to Secondary Bacterial Infection. Aug 15; 209(4): 760-771. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2200261. Epub 2022 Aug 1. PMID: 35914833.
Study Probes Asthma and Obesity Interplay
Division fellow Jessica Reyes-Angel, MD, was the first author of a new review paper on the intersection between obesity and asthma in pediatric patients. Dr. Reyes-Angel and colleagues, including senior author and director of Pediatric Asthma Center at UPMC Children’s, Erick Forno, MD, MPH, ATSF, discuss the phenotypic disease and symptom characteristics seen in children with asthma and obesity, current recommendations on treatment approaches, and future directions for research, including more fully understanding the complex interplay between the two conditions in racial minorities and ethnic groups who experience the diseases at increased levels.
Exploring Factors That Modulate Bronchiolitis Severity in Neonates
Division chief and Niels K. Jerne Professor of Pediatrics, Juan C. Celedón, MD, DrPH, ATSF, was a co-author of a new prospective multicenter study published in the journal Nature Communication in August on the relationship between bronchiolitis severity and the microbiome and nasopharyngeal airway host response. Dr. Celedón and colleagues’ investigation was an attempt to understand modulating factors on disease severity in neonates hospitalized with lung inflammation. The team found a number of factors associated with disease severity and the need for positive pressure ventilation support measures.
