Štrajtenberger Maja, Lugović-Mihić Liborija, Stipić-Marković Asja, Artuković Marinko, Glavina Ana, Pravica Nika Barbara, Hanžek Milena, Sušić Tamara, Tešija Kuna Andrea, Nađ Bungić Lara
Department of Pulmology, Special Hospital for Pulmonary Diseases, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Department of Dermatovenereology, University Hospital Center Sestre Milosrdnice, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
J Clin Med. 2024 Dec 11;13(24):7552. doi: 10.3390/jcm13247552.
: Human β-defensin 2 (HBD2) is a protein that plays an important role in activating the immune system by modulating spinal pathways and the inflammatory response. According to previous research, HBD2 was proven to be important in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) (their values were significantly elevated in CSU patients, with a significant correlation between HBD2 levels and the percentage of peripheral basophils, suggesting that elevated HBD2 levels may be a potential marker of basophil and mast cell activation), which led us to additional research on the HBD2 molecule in isolated chronic angioedema. The aim of this research is to examine HBD2 values in the saliva and serum of patients with isolated angioedema, as a potential biomarker of the disease. This cross-sectional study involved a total of 102 participants, involving three groups: 33 patients with isolated chronic non-hereditary angioedema (AE) (defined as sudden onset of localized edema without chronic urticaria), 33 patients with angioedema associated with chronic urticaria (CU+AE), and 35 healthy participants (controls, CTRL). They provided a saliva sample to determine HBD2 levels using an ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay). Subsequently, a peripheral blood sample (serum) was taken from the participants to determine HBD2 levels using the same ELISA. Salivary HBD2 levels were significantly higher in those with CU+AE than in the CTRL ( = 0.019). While salivary HBD2 values differed between those with angioedema and CTRL, the serum HBD2 values did not. Also, no correlation between the levels of HBD2 in saliva and serum was found. : Since we found that salivary HBD2 values were significantly higher in those with CU+AE than in CTRL, this points to a possible role of the HBD2 molecule in pathogenesis of AE (namely, that it induces degranulation in mast cells and vascular permeability, and has antimicrobial properties) Therefore, more research is needed to determine how reliable salivary HBD2 measurement is, as well as its significance.
人β-防御素2（HBD2）是一种蛋白质，通过调节脊髓通路和炎症反应在激活免疫系统中发挥重要作用。根据先前的研究，HBD2在慢性自发性荨麻疹（CSU）中被证明是重要的（其值在CSU患者中显著升高，HBD2水平与外周嗜碱性粒细胞百分比之间存在显著相关性，表明HBD2水平升高可能是嗜碱性粒细胞和肥大细胞激活的潜在标志物），这促使我们对孤立性慢性血管性水肿中的HBD2分子进行进一步研究。本研究的目的是检测孤立性血管性水肿患者唾液和血清中的HBD2值，作为该疾病的潜在生物标志物。这项横断面研究共涉及102名参与者，分为三组：33例孤立性慢性非遗传性血管性水肿（AE）患者（定义为局部水肿突然发作且无慢性荨麻疹）、33例与慢性荨麻疹相关的血管性水肿（CU+AE）患者和35名健康参与者（对照组，CTRL）。他们提供唾液样本，使用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）来测定HBD2水平。随后，从参与者采集外周血样本（血清），使用相同的ELISA测定HBD2水平。CU+AE患者的唾液HBD2水平显著高于对照组（P = 0.019）。虽然血管性水肿患者与对照组的唾液HBD2值不同，但血清HBD2值并无差异。此外，未发现唾液和血清中HBD2水平之间存在相关性。由于我们发现CU+AE患者的唾液HBD2值显著高于对照组，这表明HBD2分子在AE发病机制中可能发挥作用（即它诱导肥大细胞脱颗粒和血管通透性，并具有抗菌特性）。因此，需要更多研究来确定唾液HBD2测量的可靠性及其意义。
