Krzysztof Specjalski1, Ewa Jassem. 1. Department of Allergology, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland. specjalski@poczta.onet.pl
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Gaining asthma control is still a challenge in a large number of patients. It could be facilitated by using biomarkers indicating the grade of inflammation and correlating with clinical picture. Chitinases and chitinase-like proteins play a role in Th2-type inflammation. Thus, they may be useful in diagnosing and monitoring of asthma. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate the relevance of YKL-40 as a good biomarker of asthma, its control, and severity. METHODS: Level of YKL-40 was determined by means of immunoassay in sera of 59 asthmatics (39 women, 20 men, aged 23-76 years) and 29 healthy controls (18 women, 11 men, aged 20-80 years). Asthma severity and control were assessed according to GINA guidelines. Differences between groups were compared with the use of Mann-Whitney's U-test. Correlations between variables were assessed with Pearson's test. RESULTS: Symptoms of asthma were found to be controlled in 12 (20%), partly controlled in 17 (29%), and uncontrolled in 30 (51%) patients. YKL-40 levels were significantly higher, on average, in asthmatics compared to control group (median levels: 125.3 U and 84.1 U, respectively, p < .001). YKL-40 correlated with the number of blood eosinophils (r = 0.376, p = 0.05). However, no relations have been found between YKL-40 level and asthma severity, control, or total serum IgE (r = -0.05, p = .05). CONCLUSION: YKL-40 seems to be a good marker of asthma. However, its level may not correlate with clinical outcome.
BACKGROUND: Gaining asthma control is still a challenge in a large number of patients. It could be facilitated by using biomarkers indicating the grade of inflammation and correlating with clinical picture. Chitinases and chitinase-like proteins play a role in Th2-type inflammation. Thus, they may be useful in diagnosing and monitoring of asthma. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate the relevance of YKL-40 as a good biomarker of asthma, its control, and severity. METHODS: Level of YKL-40 was determined by means of immunoassay in sera of 59 asthmatics (39 women, 20 men, aged 23-76 years) and 29 healthy controls (18 women, 11 men, aged 20-80 years). Asthma severity and control were assessed according to GINA guidelines. Differences between groups were compared with the use of Mann-Whitney's U-test. Correlations between variables were assessed with Pearson's test. RESULTS: Symptoms of asthma were found to be controlled in 12 (20%), partly controlled in 17 (29%), and uncontrolled in 30 (51%) patients. YKL-40 levels were significantly higher, on average, in asthmatics compared to control group (median levels: 125.3 U and 84.1 U, respectively, p < .001). YKL-40 correlated with the number of blood eosinophils (r = 0.376, p = 0.05). However, no relations have been found between YKL-40 level and asthma severity, control, or total serum IgE (r = -0.05, p = .05). CONCLUSION:YKL-40 seems to be a good marker of asthma. However, its level may not correlate with clinical outcome.
Authors: Cong-Lin Liu; Holger Wemmelund; Yi Wang; Mengyang Liao; Jes S Lindholt; Søren P Johnsen; Henrik Vestergaard; Cleverson Fernandes; Galina K Sukhova; Xiang Cheng; Jin-Ying Zhang; Chongzhe Yang; Xiaozhu Huang; Alan Daugherty; Bruce D Levy; Peter Libby; Guo-Ping Shi Journal: Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol Date: 2016-02-11 Impact factor: 8.311