Zhang Xue, Li Diandian, Wang Hao, Pang Caishuang, Wu Yanqiu, Wen Fuqiang
Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Division of Pulmonary Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy of China, Chengdu 610041, China.
Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Division of Pulmonary Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy of China, Chengdu 610041, China
Biosci Rep. 2016 Jan 28;36(1):e00302. doi: 10.1042/BSR20150281.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is characterized by airway inflammation and increases the likelihood of the development of atherosclerosis. Recent studies have indicated that FABP4 (fatty-acid-binding protein 4), an intracellular lipid chaperone of low molecular mass, plays an important role in the regulation of inflammation and atherosclerosis. We carried out a preliminary clinical study aiming at investigating the relationships between circulating FABP4 levels in patients with COPD and inflammation and lung function. We enrolled 50 COPD patients and 39 healthy controls in the study. Lung function tests were performed in all subjects. Plasma levels of FABP4 and adiponectin, TNFα (tumour necrosis factor α) and CRP (C-reactive protein) were measured. The correlations between FABP4 and lung function, adipokine (adiponectin), inflammatory factors and BMI (body mass index) were analysed. Compared with both males with COPD and healthy females, plasma FABP4 levels in females with COPD were significantly increased. Adiponectin and CRP levels were significantly higher in patients with COPD. Furthermore, we found that FABP4 levels were inversely correlated with FEV1% predicted (FEV1 is forced expiratory volume in 1 s) and positively correlated with adiponectin and TNFα in COPD patients. In addition, a positive correlation between plasma FABP4 and CRP was found in females with COPD. However, FABP4 levels were not correlated with BMI. Our results underline a gender difference in FABP4 secretion in stable COPD patients. Further studies are warranted to clarify the exact role of FABP4 in the pathogenesis of COPD.
慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）的特征是气道炎症，且会增加动脉粥样硬化发生的可能性。最近的研究表明，脂肪酸结合蛋白4（FABP4），一种低分子量的细胞内脂质伴侣，在炎症和动脉粥样硬化的调节中起重要作用。我们开展了一项初步临床研究，旨在调查COPD患者循环中FABP4水平与炎症及肺功能之间的关系。我们招募了50例COPD患者和39名健康对照者参与该研究。对所有受试者进行了肺功能测试。测定了FABP4、脂联素、肿瘤坏死因子α（TNFα）和C反应蛋白（CRP）的血浆水平。分析了FABP4与肺功能、脂肪因子（脂联素）、炎症因子及体重指数（BMI）之间的相关性。与男性COPD患者和健康女性相比，女性COPD患者的血浆FABP4水平显著升高。COPD患者的脂联素和CRP水平显著更高。此外，我们发现COPD患者中FABP4水平与预测的第1秒用力呼气容积（FEV1）呈负相关，与脂联素和TNFα呈正相关。另外，在女性COPD患者中发现血浆FABP4与CRP之间呈正相关。然而，FABP4水平与BMI无关。我们的结果强调了稳定期COPD患者FABP4分泌存在性别差异。有必要进一步研究以阐明FABP4在COPD发病机制中的确切作用。
