title: MFG-E8, a clearance glycoprotein of apoptotic cells, as a new marker of disease severity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: Milk fat globule epidermal growth factor 8 (MFG-E8) is an opsonin involved in the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), apoptotic cell clearance is defective. However, whether aberrant MFG-E8 expression is involved in this defect is unknown. In this study, we examined the expression of MFG-E8 in COPD patients. MFG-E8, interleukin (IL)-1β and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β levels were measured in the plasma of 96 COPD patients (93 males, 3 females; age range: 62.12±10.39) and 87 age-matched healthy controls (85 males, 2 females; age range: 64.81±10.11 years) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Compared with controls, COPD patients had a significantly lower plasma MFG-E8 levels (P<0.01) and significantly higher plasma TGF-β levels (P=0.002), whereas there was no difference in plasma IL-1β levels between the two groups. Moreover, plasma MFG-E8 levels decreased progressively between Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) I and GOLD IV stage COPD. Multiple regression analysis showed that the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 % predicted) and smoking habit were powerful predictors of MFG-E8 in COPD (P<0.01 and P=0.026, respectively). MFG-E8 was positively associated with the FEV1 % predicted and negatively associated with smoking habit. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.874 (95% confidence interval: 0.798-0.95; P<0.01). Our findings demonstrated the utility of MFG-E8 as a marker of disease severity in COPD and that cigarette smoke impaired MFG-E8 expression in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000097:blood*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008894:Milk Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012372:ROC Curve; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000097:blood; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D015415:Biomarkers; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; C098942:MFGE8 protein, human; D008894:Milk Proteins; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta