线性流变学作为慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）患者痰液的一种潜在监测工具。

Linear rheology as a potential monitoring tool for sputum in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

作者信息

Nettle C J, Jenkins L, Curtis D, Badiei N, Lewis K, Williams P R, Daniels D R

机构信息

College of Engineering, Swansea University, Bay Campus, Swansea SA1 8EN, UK.

Prince Philip Hospital, Hywel Dda University Health Board, Llanelli SA14 8QF, UK.

出版信息

Biorheology. 2018;54(2-4):67-80. doi: 10.3233/BIR-17141.

DOI:10.3233/BIR-17141

PMID:29278868

Abstract

BACKGROUND

The rheological properties of sputum may influence lung function and become modified in disease.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to correlate the viscoelastic properties of sputum with clinical data on the severity of disease in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

METHODS

Sputum samples from COPD patients were investigated using rheology, simple mathematical modelling and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The samples were all collected from patients within two days of their admission to Prince Philip Hospital due to an exacerbation of their COPD. Oscillatory and creep rheological techniques were used to measure changes in viscoelastic properties at different frequencies over time.

RESULTS

COPD sputum was observed to behave as a viscoelastic solid at all frequencies studied. Comparing the rheology of exacerbated COPD sputum with healthy sputum (not diagnosed with a respiratory disease) revealed significant differences in response to oscillatory shear and creep-recovery experiments, which highlights the potential clinical benefits of better understanding sputum viscoelasticity. A common power law model G(t)=G0(tτ0)-m was successfully fitted to experimental rheology data over the range of frequencies studied.

CONCLUSIONS

A comparison between clinical data and the power law index m obtained from rheology, suggested that an important possible future application of this parameter is as a potential biomarker for COPD severity.

摘要

背景

痰液的流变学特性可能会影响肺功能，且在疾病状态下会发生改变。

目的

本研究旨在将痰液的粘弹性特性与慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）患者疾病严重程度的临床数据相关联。

方法

采用流变学、简单数学建模和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）对COPD患者的痰液样本进行研究。所有样本均采集自因COPD急性加重入住菲利普亲王医院的患者，且采集时间在患者入院后两天内。采用振荡和蠕变流变技术测量不同频率下随时间变化的粘弹性特性。

结果

在所研究的所有频率下，COPD痰液均表现为粘弹性固体。将急性加重期COPD痰液与健康痰液（未诊断出呼吸系统疾病）的流变学进行比较，发现在振荡剪切和蠕变-恢复实验中的反应存在显著差异，这突出了更好地理解痰液粘弹性的潜在临床益处。在所研究的频率范围内，一个常见的幂律模型G(t)=G0(tτ0)-m成功拟合了实验流变学数据。