Divisions of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mie University School of Medicine, Mie Chuo Medical Center, Tsu, Japan.
Respirology. 2012 May;17(4):693-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1843.2012.02167.x.
Interstitial lung diseases (ILD) are characterized by progressive interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and a decline in lung function. Fibrocytes are bone marrow-derived mesenchymal progenitor cells that may play a role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. Circulating fibrocyte numbers have been correlated with the prognosis of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between circulating fibrocytes, and parameters of disease activity and progression in several groups of patients with ILD.
The study population comprised 41 patients with ILD and seven healthy control subjects. Circulating CD45(+) collagen-I(+) fibrocytes were evaluated by flow cytometry.
The number of circulating fibrocytes was significantly increased in all patients with ILD and particularly in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonitis and interstitial pneumonitis associated with collagen vascular disease as compared with healthy control subjects. The numbers of circulating fibrocytes were significantly correlated with pulmonary function test parameters and with serum levels of sialylated carbohydrate antigen, a marker of disease activity. Temporal changes in circulating fibrocyte numbers were evaluated in two patients, and the results suggested that these changes correlated with the activity of ILD.
The results from this study provide further evidence for the role of circulating fibrocytes in fibrotic lung diseases.
间质性肺疾病（ILD）的特征是进行性肺间质纤维化和肺功能下降。纤维细胞是骨髓来源的间充质祖细胞，可能在肺纤维化的发病机制中发挥作用。循环纤维细胞数量与特发性肺纤维化患者的预后相关。本研究旨在评估循环纤维细胞与几组 ILD 患者疾病活动度和进展相关参数之间的关系。
研究人群包括 41 名 ILD 患者和 7 名健康对照者。通过流式细胞术评估循环 CD45(+)胶原-I(+)纤维细胞。
所有 ILD 患者的循环纤维细胞数量均显著增加，尤其是特发性间质性肺炎和与胶原血管疾病相关的间质性肺炎患者，与健康对照组相比更为显著。循环纤维细胞数量与肺功能检查参数以及疾病活动标志物唾液酸化糖蛋白抗原的血清水平显著相关。对两名患者的循环纤维细胞数量的时间变化进行了评估，结果表明这些变化与 ILD 的活动度相关。
本研究结果进一步证明了循环纤维细胞在纤维性肺疾病中的作用。
