title: Serum levels of apoptosis-related markers (sFasL, TNF-a, p53 and bcl-2) in COPD patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Taking into account important role of apoptosis in COPD pathogenesis, we wanted to asses the serum levels of markers involved in apoptosis regulation, including apoptosis inducers such as TNF-a, sFasL or p53 protein and apoptosis inhibitor bcl-2 and, in addition, to compare these markers with selected COPD parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 181 patients (60 women) with COPD (age was 62.2+ 9.37 years; FEV1% 55.2 + 19.98 %) and in 29 controls (11 women), serum levels of TNF-a, sFasL, p53 and bcl-2 were evaluated by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In COPD patients the mean sFasL level was 0.092 ± 0.077 ng/ml and mean TNF-a level was 2.911 ± 3.239 pg/ml. There were no differences in serum sFasL and TNF-a in COPD patients and control group. TNF-a and sFasL did not correlate with COPD parameters such as FEV₁%, BMI, RV% (percentage of predicted value of residual volume) or BODE. Although we tried to evaluate bcl-2 and p53 protein serum levels with two different tests, measurable levels of bcl-2 were only detected in 15 patients and p53 in only 3 patients. Bcl-2 values were from 0.418 to 11.423 ng/ml and p53 from 90.772 to 994.749 pg/ml.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We didn't observe any differences in serum levels of pro- and antiapoptotic markers in COPD patients and the control group or correlations between the markers studied and COPD parameters.
authors.affiliation: Chair and Department of Pulmonology and Lung Cancer, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland. mokka113@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kosacka
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Porębska
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Korzeniewska
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rubinsztajn
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grabicki
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jankowska
authors.forename: Halina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Batura-Gabryel
authors.forename: Ryszarda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chazan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000097:blood*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C505661:FASLG protein, human; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; C439524:TNF protein, human; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
keywords: COPD; TNF-a; apoptosis; bcl-2; p53; sFasL