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Background: Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a degenerative interstitial lung disease with both a poor prognosis and quality of life once the diagnosis is made. In the last decade many features of the disease have been investigated to better understand the pathological steps that lead to the onset of the disease and, moreover, different types of biomarkers have been tested to find valid diagnostic, prognostic and therapy response predictive ones. In the complexity of IPF, microRNA (miRNAs) biomarker investigation seems to be promising., Methods: We analysed the expression of five exosomal miRNAs supposed to have a role in the pathogenesis of the disease from serum of a group of IPF patients (n = 61) and we compared it with the expression of the same miRNAs in a group of healthy controls (n = 15)., Results: In the current study what emerged is let-7d down-regulation and, unexpectedly, miR-16 significant down-regulation. Moreover, through a cross-sectional analysis, a clustering of the expression of miR-16, miR-21 and miR-26a was found., Conclusions: These findings could help the individuation of previously unknown key players in the pathophysiology of IPF and, most interestingly, more specific targets for the development of effective medications.

Background: Airways of lung cancer patients are often colonized by fungi. Some of these colonizing fungi, under particular conditions, produce cancerogenic mycotoxins. Given the recent interest in the infective origin of lung cancer, with this preliminary study we aim to give our small contribution to this field of research by analysing the fungal microbiome of the exhaled breath condensate of lung cancer patients from Puglia, a region of Italy., Methods: We enrolled 43 lung cancer patients and 21 healthy subjects that underwent exhaled breath condensate and bronchial brushing collection. The fungal incidence and nature of sample collected were analysed by using a selected media for Aspergillus species., Results: For the first time we were able to analyse the fungal microbioma of the exhaled breath condensate. 27.9% of lung cancer patients showed a presence of Aspergillus niger, or A. ochraceus or Penicillium ssp. while none of the healthy subjects did so., Conclusion: The results confirmed the high percentage of fungal colonization of the airways of lung cancer patients from Puglia, suggesting the need to conduct further analyses in this field in order to evaluate the exact pathogenetic role of these fungi in lung cancer as well as to propose efficient, empirical therapy.

Background: Recent advances in lung cancer biology presuppose its inflammatory origin. In this regard, LTB-4 and IL-8 are recognized to play a crucial role in neutrophil recruitment into airways during lung cancer.Notwithstanding the intriguing hypothesis, the exact role of neutrophilic inflammation in tumour biology remains complex and not completely known.The aim of this study was to give our contribution in this field by investigating LTB-4 and IL-8 in the breath condensate of NSCLC patients and verifying their role in cancer development and progression., Method: We enrolled 50 NSCLC patients and 35 controls. LTB-4 and IL-8 concentrations were measured in the breath condensate and the blood of all the subjects under study using EIA kits. Thirty NSCLC patients and ten controls underwent induced sputum collection and analysis., Results: LTB-4 and IL-8 resulted higher in breath condensate and the blood of NSCLC patients compared to controls. Significantly higher concentrations were found as the cancer stages progressed. A positive correlation was observed between exhaled IL-8 and LTB-4 and the percentage of neutrophils in the induced sputum., Conclusion: The high concentrations of exhaled LTB-4 and IL-8 showed the presence of a neutrophilic inflammation in the airways of NSCLC patients and gave a further support to the inflammatory signalling in lung cancer. These exhaled proteins could represent a suitable non-invasive marker in the diagnosis and monitoring of lung cancer.