The prognosis value of C-reactive protein and endothelin-1 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with pulmonary artery pressure.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which is caused by various proinflammatory cytokines, will present some kinds of complication with progression such as Pulmonary Artery Hypertension (PAH). CRP (C-Reactive Protein) and ET-1(Endotheline-1) play pivotal function in inflammatory responses. The aim of this study is to investigate the prognosis value of CRP and ET-1 in COPD patients with pulmonary artery hypertension. CRP and ET-1 were measured in the plasma, sputum and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of 55 COPD patients, 75 COPD patients with PAH and 57 healthy controls. Then, we analyzed the influence of these two proteins on the lung function, pulmonary artery pressure, exercise capacity and other clinical indices. The amount of CRP and ET-1 were the highest in COPD patients with PAH, followed by the COPD patients and the healthy controls. And there were statistically significant differences (p<0.05). The amount of CRP and ET-1 were negatively correlated with the lung function and exercise capacity, positively correlated with the pulmonary artery pressure. CRP and ET-1 are two valuable indicators in the diagnosis of COPD patients with PAH in clinic.