title: Circulating adhesion molecules in bronchial asthma.
abstract: It has been shown that leukocyte adhesion mechanisms play an important role in the development of allergic inflammation in bronchial asthma. We measured the circulating levels of E-selectin (formerly called sElam-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) by ELISA in asthmatic subjects. We selected 10 asthmatic subjects to study during an asthma attack, 10 asthmatic subjects in an intercrisis phase, and 20 healthy nonatopic control subjects. A significant increase in the serum levels of soluble E-selectin and soluble ICAM-1 was found in the group of patients during an asthmatic crisis compared to the controls (p < 0.001). The asthmatic patients in an intercrisis phase and the healthy control subjects had overlapping levels of soluble ICAM-1 and soluble E-selectin. The clinical utility of serum soluble levels of adhesion molecules has not been completely assessed and these circulating molecules do not appear to be a useful marker for monitoring the persistent inflammatory activity in stable bronchial asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Therapeutics, University of Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bagnato
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gulli
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Altavilla
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Squadrito
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Giacobbe
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Purello D'Ambrosio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000097:blood*; D019040:E-Selectin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests
chemical_list: D019040:E-Selectin; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1