title: Enhanced insulin-like growth factor binding protein-related protein 2 (Connective tissue growth factor) expression in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary sarcoidosis.
abstract: Connective tissue growth factor is a recently described chemoattractant and fibroblast mitogen which, because of sequence homology and weak binding to insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, has been proposed as the eighth member of the IGF binding protein (IGFBP) superfamily, named IGFBP-related protein 2 (IGFBP-rP2). Previous studies have implicated IGFBP-rP2 in a number of heterogeneous fibrotic pathologies, including renal fibrosis, dermal scleroderma, and bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. Because profibrogenic cytokines may be produced by inflammatory cells, we developed a multiplex competitive reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction to quantify IGFBP-rP2 transcripts in bronchoalveolar lavage cells from healthy subjects and patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and pulmonary sarcoidosis. IGFBP-rP2 messenger RNA expression was enhanced > 10-fold (P < 0.003) in patients with IPF; > 40-fold (P < 0.006) in stage I/II sarcoidosis patients, and > 90-fold (P < 0.005) in stage III/IV sarcoidosis patients by comparison with healthy nonsmoking control subjects. We suggest these increases are predominantly associated with lymphocyte- and neutrophil-driven IGFBP-rP2 production. These findings, together with previous reports implicating other IGFBPs in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis, suggest that the complex network of IGFBPs within the human lung is an important determinant of the outcome of the fibroproliferative response to injury.
authors.affiliation: Lung Injury and Inflammation Research Group, Department of Respiratory Medicine, North Staffordshire Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bloor
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Spiteri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008168:Lung / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017565:Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C526317:CCN2 protein, human; C526318:CCN2 protein, mouse; D006133:Growth Substances; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor