title: [Relationship between serum 25-hydroxyl-vitamin D3 levels and galectin-3 levels in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in children with asthma].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the changes of the levels of galectin-3 (Gal-3) in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of children with asthma whose have different serum levels of 25-hydroxyl-vitamin D₃[25(OH)D₃].
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty children with asthma between January 2013 and December 2014 were enrolled as the asthma group, and they were classified into 25(OH)D₃sufficient (n=7), insufficient (n=12) and deficient subgroups (n=31) according to the serum levels of 25(OH)D₃. Twenty children with abnormal airway or tracheal foreign bodies served as the control group. The levels of 25(OH)D₃, Gal-3 and total IgE in serum and Gal-3 levels in BALF were measured using ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The serum levels of 25(OH)D₃in the asthma group were lower than in the control group (P<0.05). The 25(OH)D₃deficient subgroup displayed the highest percentages of neutrophils, eosinophils and epithelial cells in BALF, followed by the 25(OH)D₃insufficient subgroup and the 25(OH)D₃sufficient subgroup (P<0.05). The percentages of neutrophils, eosinophils and epithelial cells in BALF in the three subgroups were all higher than in the control group (P<0.05). In children with asthma, serum levels of 25(OH)D₃were negatively correlated with the percentages of neutrophils, eosinophils and epithelial cells in BALF (r=-0.683, -0.795 and -0.670 respectively; P<0.05); and a negative correlation was also seen between serum 25(OH)D₃levels and serum Gal-3 and total IgE levels (r=-0.759 and -0.875 respectively; P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The children with asthma have low serum levels of 25(OH)D₃. 25(OH)D₃and Gal-3 may be involved in the airway inflammation and the development of asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Shanghai, Shanghai 200062, China. jkjk_032@163.com.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xiao-Xia
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: He-Bin
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lin-Hua
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Shu
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D001798:Blood Proteins; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology; D037161:Galectins; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D037502:Galectin 3; D037161:Galectins; C428445:LGALS3 protein, human; D014807:Vitamin D; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D