Increased levels of nerve growth factor in the airways of patients with sarcoidosis.
OBJECTIVE
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a potent neuronal growth factor with inflammatory properties that recently has been proposed to be of importance in airway pathology. A role for NGF in the inflammatory granulomatous lung disease sarcoidosis is not well elucidated. The aims of this study were to investigate the secreted levels of NGF in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from sarcoidosis patients compared with patients with resolved disease, patients with another granulomatous disease--chronic beryllium disease (CBD)--and healthy subjects and also to investigate the relationship between NGF levels and markers of inflammation.


RESULTS
NGF levels in BALF from 56 patients with active sarcoidosis (22 with Löfgren's syndrome), nine subjects with resolved sarcoidosis, six patients with CBD, and 31 healthy subjects were compared. A 10-fold elevation of NGF levels was found in patients with active sarcoidosis compared with subjects with clinically resolved sarcoidosis, patients with CBD and healthy subjects. In sarcoidosis patients, positive correlations between concentrations of NGF and lymphocytes, eosinophils and interferon-gamma, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, IL-12 were found.


CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrate that secreted levels of NGF are markedly enhanced in the airways in active pulmonary sarcoidosis. Furthermore, a relationship between NGF and pulmonary inflammation in sarcoidosis is supported.
Dagnell
C
C
Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet and Division of Respiratory Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Stockholm, Sweden. charlotta.dagnell@ki.se
Grunewald
J
J
Idali
F
F
Wikén
M
M
Kemi
C
C
Sköld
C M
CM
Planck
A
A
Newman
L S
LS
Eklund
A
A
Olgart Höglund
C
C
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001607:Berylliosis / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004804:Eosinophils; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000032:analysis; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000032:analysis; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000032:analysis; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000032:analysis; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor / Q000032:analysis*; D017565:Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
D015415:Biomarkers; D016753:Interleukin-10; D018664:Interleukin-12; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D020932:Nerve Growth Factor