Analysis of growth factors in serum and induced sputum from patients with asthma

Abstract

Epidermal growth factor (EGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), the AA and BB isoforms of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are involved in the pathogenesis of airway inflammation in asthma. In the present study, the associations between asthmatic phenotypes and the expression levels of these mediators in induced sputum and serum were investigated. A total of 62 asthmatic patients were divided into eosinophilic or neutrophilic phenotypes by cytological classification of the induced sputum. In addition, patients were classified according to lung function (FEV1/FVC >70% or FEV1/FVC <70%) and asthma severity (mild, moderate or severe). The concentrations of EGF, bFGF, PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB and VEGF in the serum and induced sputum were measured using sandwich enzyme immunoassays. VEGF levels in the serum and induced sputum were higher in patients with an eosinophilic phenotype compared with those with a neutrophilic phenotype. In addition, VEGF expression was higher in patients with an FEV1/FVC value of <70% as compared with patients with an FEV1/FVC value of >70%. Furthermore, the levels of VEGF were higher in patients with severe asthma compared with the patients with mild and moderate asthma. There were no statistically significant differences observed with regard to EGF, bFGF, PDGF-AA and PDGF-BB levels among the various phenotypes. Therefore, the observations of the present study indicated that increased VEGF expression in the serum and induced sputum of patients may be associated with eosinophilic airway inflammation, severe airflow limitation and the severity of asthma.

Administration of Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor Inhibits Airway Inflammation and Remodeling in Chronic OVA-Induced Mice via VEGF Suppression

“… 32 VEGF levels are increased in sputum and lung tissues from asthmatic patients and correlate with the disease severity of asthma. 33 34 35 The inhibition of VEGF can lead to a significant reduction in basement membrane thickness and goblet cell hyperplasia. 36 Previous studies showed that PEDF counteracts the biological actions of VEGF via down-regulating VEGF expression or binding VEGF receptors.…”

Role of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF) in Asthma as an Immunoregulatory Factor Mediating Airway Remodeling and Possible Pharmacological Target

“…Interestingly, the PDGF-AA levels appeared to be significantly higher in induced sputum than in serum, while PDGF-BB levels were significantly higher in serum than in induced sputum. In a follow-up of this study, which included 9 patients who received standardized treatment, consisting of short-acting b-agonists as required, inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting b-agonists and leukotriene modifiers (no data on names of drugs used), no significant differences in the levels of the two PDGF isoforms neither in serum nor in induced sputum were observed (ZOU et al, 2014).…”

Upregulation of LncRNA Malat1 Induced Proliferation and Migration of Airway Smooth Muscle Cells via miR-150-eIF4E/Akt Signaling

“…Several inflammatory mediators play important roles in airway remodeling (Clarke et al, 2009; Finiasz et al, 2011). Among them, platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB), significantly upregulated in asthmatic tissues, has been widely reported to be able to induce ASMC proliferation and migration and exacerbate the airway remodeling (Chanez et al, 1995; Yamashita et al, 2001; Zou et al, 2014; Liu et al, 2015; Zhang et al, 2016; Dai et al, 2018a). Thus, inhibition of PDGF-BB-induced ASMC proliferation and migration might represent a promising therapeutic option for asthma treatment.…”