Mohan Nitin, Akter Rabeya, Bryant Katherine, Herbert Cristan, Chow Sharron, Thomas Paul S
Prince of Wales Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Inflamm Res. 2016 Jun;65(6):471-8. doi: 10.1007/s00011-016-0929-y. Epub 2016 Mar 23.
Granuloma formation in sarcoidosis is dependent upon the interaction between alveolar macrophages (AMs) and a CD4+-driven TH1 response. This study aimed to measure TNF-α and calcium ion concentrations as markers of AM activity, in addition to total protein as a non-specific inflammatory marker in the exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of patients with sarcoidosis as well as control subjects.
EBC was collected from 17 sarcoidosis patients and 23 healthy volunteers. Protein was measured by the bicinchoninic acid assay, TNF-α concentration was measured by ELISA and Ca(2+) concentration was measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Conductivity of EBC was assessed using a conductivity probe.
Total protein concentration was significantly elevated in EBC from patients with sarcoidosis compared to control subjects (19.51 ± 4.52 vs. 10.60 ± 1.31 µg/ml, p = 0.020), as was TNF-α (3.37 ± 0.38 vs. 2.59 ± 0.40 pg/ml, p = 0.037) and conductivity (66.68 ± 16.73 vs. 36.85 ± 3.070 µS/cm, p = 0.044). EBC Ca(2+) concentration was significantly higher in healthy controls compared to patients with sarcoidosis (116.50 ± 12.19 vs. 73.88 ± 13.35 µmol/l, p = 0.018), although this was in the context of normal serum Ca(2+) in the sarcoidosis cohort.
Total protein and TNF-α concentrations were elevated in EBC from patients with sarcoidosis and could indicate disease activity. The reduction in EBC Ca(2+) concentrations could represent granulomatous activity in the lung.
结节病中的肉芽肿形成取决于肺泡巨噬细胞（AMs）与CD4+驱动的TH1反应之间的相互作用。本研究旨在测量结节病患者以及对照受试者呼出气体冷凝液（EBC）中作为AM活性标志物的TNF-α和钙离子浓度，以及作为非特异性炎症标志物的总蛋白。
从17例结节病患者和23名健康志愿者中收集EBC。通过二辛可宁酸测定法测量蛋白质，通过酶联免疫吸附测定法测量TNF-α浓度，通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法测量Ca(2+)浓度。使用电导率探头评估EBC的电导率。
与对照受试者相比，结节病患者EBC中的总蛋白浓度显著升高（19.51±4.52对10.60±1.31μg/ml，p = 0.020），TNF-α（3.37±0.38对2.59±0.40 pg/ml，p = 0.037）和电导率（66.68±16.73对36.85±3.070μS/cm，p = 0.044）也是如此。与结节病患者相比，健康对照的EBC Ca(2+)浓度显著更高（116.50±12.19对73.88±13.35μmol/l，p = 0.018），尽管这是在结节病队列血清Ca(2+)正常的情况下。
结节病患者EBC中的总蛋白和TNF-α浓度升高，可能表明疾病活动。EBC Ca(2+)浓度降低可能代表肺部的肉芽肿活性。
