The differences of eosinophil- and neutrophil-related inflammation in elderly allergic and non-allergic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
BACKGROUND
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease in the elderly population and is characterized by airway inflammation. Whether it is a progressive condition resulting from allergic inflammation or a distinct condition involving a pathogen-induced reaction remains unclear.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the role of allergic inflammation in the pathogenesis of elderly COPD.


METHODS
A total of 63 elderly adults (21 mite-allergic COPD patients, 29 non-allergic COPD patients, and 13 normal controls) were recruited in this study. The serum-specific IgE for mites, level of interleukin-5 (IL-5), IL-8, leptin, adiponectin, regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), growth-related oncogene-α (GRO-α), vitamin E, and glutathione (GSH) were determined.


RESULTS
The serum levels of GRO-α in patients with COPD were higher in comparison to normal controls (105.8 ± 32.7 vs. 7.5 ± 7.5 pg/mL, p= .021). Compared to patients with non-allergic COPD, patients with mite allergies had a higher serum level of IL-8 (63.2 ± 12.6 vs. 35.0 ± 8.2 pg/mL, p= .022). Although both IL-5 and RANTES levels were increased in COPD patients, there were no significant differences between allergic and non-allergic COPD. There were also no differences in serum levels of leptin, adiponectin, vitamin E, and GSH between COPD patients and normal controls.


CONCLUSIONS
The increased serum levels of GRO-α indicate that it may have potential as a candidate biomarker for elderly COPD patients. There was no difference of eosinophils-related chemokines in allergic and non-allergic COPD. These results indicated that both adipokines and eosinophil-related chemokines only play trivial roles in the pathogenesis of COPD.
Tsai
Jaw-Ji
JJ
Department of Medical Research, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan. jawji@vghtc.gov.tw
Liao
En-Chih
EC
Hsu
Jeng-Yuan
JY
Lee
Wen-Jane
WJ
Lai
Yiu-Kay
YK
D040041:Acaridae / Q000276:immunology; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology*; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology; D018836:Inflammation Mediators / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000276:immunology*; D039981:Pyroglyphidae / Q000276:immunology
D015415:Biomarkers; D018836:Inflammation Mediators; D007073:Immunoglobulin E