title: Unifying thoracic biomarkers: surfactant protein-D and beyond.
abstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disorder that affects 300 million people worldwide and is responsible for 3 million deaths annually. Currently, there are no accepted biomarkers of COPD, which has impaired drug development and management of patients with COPD. Pneumoproteins, which are proteins synthesized predominantly in the lungs, are promising blood biomarkers because they have high specificity for lung disease. The most promising is surfactant protein-D, which is synthesized largely in Type 2 pneumocytes, and its blood concentrations have been associated with COPD and with certain clinical end points such as mortality. In this paper, we discuss surfactant protein-D and other pneumoproteins as promising biomarkers of COPD.
authors.affiliation: UBC James Hogg Research Center, The Institute for Heart and Lung Health, St Paul's Hospital and Department of Medicine (Pulmonary Division), University of British Columbia, 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada.
authors.forename: Jen Erh
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Jaw
authors.forename: Don D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Sin
mesh_terms: D056809:Alveolar Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000097:blood*; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A / Q000097:blood; D037663:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein D / Q000097:blood*; D012907:Smoking / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D037662:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein A; D037663:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein D