Bronchial angiogenesis in severe glucocorticoid-dependent asthma.
To examine the role of the bronchial microvasculature and adhesion molecule expression in severe asthma, the authors have performed an immunohistochemical study on bronchial biopsies comparing 15 glucocorticoid-dependent asthmatics, 15 mild asthmatics and eight control subjects. Serially cut glycol methacrylate-embedded sections were stained with monoclonal antibodies identifying the vessel marker EN-4, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, E- and P-selectin. Sections were also stained for lymphocyte function associated antigen (LFA)-1 and very late antigen (VLA)-4. By comparison with mild asthma and nonasthma, severe asthma was characterized by increased numbers of submucosal vessels (p=0.009) which was associated with increased numbers of vessels expressing ICAM-1 (p=0.005). A highly significant correlation was found between the total number of EN-4+ vessels and the vessels expressing ICAM-1 (r=0.85, p=0.01). In contrast, E-selectin expression was lower in severe as compared with mild asthma (p=0.01) but not different from normal. No differences were found between the three groups in the expression of VCAM-1 and P-selectin nor in numbers of LFA-1+ and VLA-4+ cells. The results of this study support the notion that mucosal neovascularization is an important feature of airways remodelling in severe asthma. This is associated with a relatively higher density of vessels expressing intercellular adhesion molecule-1, although the expression of this adhesion molecule per vessel was not raised.
Vrugt
B
B
Dutch Asthma Centre, Davos, Switzerland.
Wilson
S
S
Bron
A
A
Holgate
S T
ST
Djukanovic
R
R
Aalbers
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D001706:Biopsy; D001980:Bronchi / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology*; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D002196:Capillaries / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D019040:E-Selectin / Q000032:analysis; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000032:analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000473:pathology*; D019007:P-Selectin / Q000032:analysis; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000032:analysis
D019040:E-Selectin; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D019007:P-Selectin; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1