Gomułka Krzysztof, Liebhart Jerzy, Gładysz Urszula, Mędrala Wojciech
Department of Internal Medicine and Allergology, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
Institute of Informatics, University of Wrocław, Poland.
Adv Clin Exp Med. 2019 Jun;28(6):759-763. doi: 10.17219/acem/92012.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic, heparin-binding glycoprotein playing an important role in the pathogenesis of many diseases and disorders, including asthma. It has been reported that increased VEGF serum concentration is a biomarker of neovascularization, which could suggest that higher VEGF expression may be relevant to asthmatics with airway remodeling and irreversible bronchoconstriction.
The aim of this study was to assess the possible association between VEGF serum concentration and irreversible bronchoconstriction in adult patients with a diagnosis of asthma.
This study involved 82 adult patients with asthma (42 persons with and 40 persons without irreversible bronchoconstriction) and 40 healthy adult controls. Vascular endothelial growth factor serum concentration was analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Vascular endothelial growth factor serum concentration in patients with asthma was higher than in healthy controls (p = 0.0131), particularly in those from the subgroup of irreversible bronchoconstriction (p = 0.0133). The rising tendency was confirmed using the Kruskal–Wallis rank sum test that showed a significant difference (p = 0.0374) in VEGF values among the 3 groups examined: healthy controls (Me = 246.6 pg/mL), asthmatics with reversible bronchoconstriction (Me = 288.6 pg/mL) and asthmatics with irreversible bronchoconstriction (Me = 340.6 pg/mL). However, the direct comparison between the 2 asthmatics groups (reversible vs irreversible bronchoconstriction) did not show a statistically significant difference (p = 0.5521).
Increased VEGF serum concentration is characteristic of patients with asthma, especially those with irreversible bronchoconstriction.
血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）是一种具有血管生成作用的肝素结合糖蛋白，在包括哮喘在内的许多疾病和病症的发病机制中起重要作用。据报道，VEGF血清浓度升高是新生血管形成的生物标志物，这可能表明较高的VEGF表达可能与患有气道重塑和不可逆支气管收缩的哮喘患者有关。
本研究的目的是评估确诊为哮喘的成年患者中VEGF血清浓度与不可逆支气管收缩之间的可能关联。
本研究纳入82例成年哮喘患者（42例有不可逆支气管收缩，40例无不可逆支气管收缩）和40例健康成年对照。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）分析血管内皮生长因子血清浓度。
哮喘患者的血管内皮生长因子血清浓度高于健康对照（p = 0.0131），特别是不可逆支气管收缩亚组患者（p = 0.0133）。使用Kruskal-Wallis秩和检验证实了上升趋势，该检验显示在检查的3组中VEGF值存在显著差异（p = 0.0374）：健康对照（Me = 246.6 pg/mL）、具有可逆支气管收缩的哮喘患者（Me = 288.6 pg/mL）和具有不可逆支气管收缩的哮喘患者（Me = 340.6 pg/mL）。然而，两组哮喘患者（可逆性与不可逆性支气管收缩）之间的直接比较未显示出统计学上的显著差异（p = 0.5521）。
VEGF血清浓度升高是哮喘患者的特征，尤其是那些有不可逆支气管收缩的患者。
