title: L-ficolin (ficolin-2) insufficiency is associated with combined allergic and infectious respiratory disease in children.
abstract: We previously reported an association between relative L-ficolin deficiency and recurrent respiratory infections co-existing with allergic disorders in children. To confirm and extend this preliminary finding, we performed a prospective study on children of a similar age (mean 8.9 years) designed to establish whether the principal relationship was with infection or allergy. Serum L-ficolin values in healthy children were normally distributed with a mean value of 3838 ng/ml. L-ficolin concentrations were generally lower in patients with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis with (mean 3413 ng/ml; p=0.02) or without (3512 ng/ml; p<0.07) respiratory infections, but not in patients with respiratory infections without allergic disease (3623 ng/ml; p=0.2). The lower average values in the group comprised of children with respiratory allergy and infections were largely due to a high proportion of very low values: 18.3% had values below 2150 ng/ml compared to only 5.5% of healthy controls (OR=3.9; p=0.01). This relationship was not apparent in the groups characterized by allergy without infection or infections without allergy. An association between mannan-binding lectin (MBL) insufficiency and recurrent respiratory infections was also confirmed. One of the patients was MASP-2 deficient, evidenced both by MASP2 genotyping and by lectin pathway activity measurement. In conclusion, L-ficolin may confer some protection from microorganisms that exacerbate allergic inflammation in the lung and its relative deficiency may contribute to enhanced susceptibility to respiratory infections. MBL insufficiency and MASP-2 deficiency are risk factors for recurrence of infections independently of allergic disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lodz, Poland. mcedzynski@cbm.pan.pl
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cedzynski
authors.forename: Anne P M
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: St Swierzko
authors.forename: Shirley L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szala
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zeman
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Buczylko
authors.forename: Leokadia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bak-Romaniszyn
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wiszniewska
authors.forename: Misao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szemraj
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Banasik
authors.forename: Marc L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Kilpatrick
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D037102:Lectins / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency*; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D050606:Mannose-Binding Protein-Associated Serine Proteases / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D012016:Reference Values; D012130:Respiratory Hypersensitivity / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D000097604:Ficolins
chemical_list: D037102:Lectins; D037601:Mannose-Binding Lectin; D050606:Mannose-Binding Protein-Associated Serine Proteases; D000097604:Ficolins; C445619:MBL2 protein, human; C105296:MASP2 protein, human