Biochemical markers of connective tissue metabolism in the diagnostics of respiratory diseases in human and animals: retrospective analysis (1984–2010)

Abstract

The aim: to analyze the literature data for the period from 1984 to 2010 on the use of biochemical markers of disorders of connective tissue metabolism in diseases of the respiratory system in humans and animals.
 Materials and methods. The research was conducted by the method of scientific literature open source analysis: PubMed, Elsevier, electronic resources of the National Library named after V.I. Vernadsky (1984–2010).
 Results. In the case of diseases of the respiratory system in humans, the pathogenesis of pneumonia is the development of inflammation in the interstitial, peribronchial, perivascular and perilobular connective tissue, lymphatic vessels of the lungs, followed by involvement of alveoli and bronchioles in the inflammation. The morphological basis of these changes may be pneumofibrosis and pneumosclerotic changes. In the chronic course of pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease develops. This pathology is closely related to the action of inflammatory cytokines that regulate connective tissue proliferation. Similar studies were performed on eosinophilic bronchopneumonia in dogs, but the material for the study was bronchoalveolar lavage. The current method of diagnosing respiratory diseases using cytokines (interleukin-4, interferon-γ) and bronchoalveolar lavage has no diagnostic information in chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma in cats. Fundamental studies of connective tissue biopolymers in clinically healthy and bronchopneumonia piglets have recently been conducted in veterinary medicine.
 Conclusions. Recently, in medicine of particular interest to researchers is the determination of the content in biological fluids of indicators of connective tissue metabolism (hydroxyproline, glycosaminoglycans, glycoproteins, sialic acids) to diagnose diseases of the respiratory system. To diagnose connective tissue disorders in lung diseases in medical practice use indicators of oxyproline in serum and urine. Oxyproline is one of the most important components of lung collagen. An increase in the content of free oxyproline in the blood indicates an increased rate of collagen breakdown in the lung tissue. Analysis of oxyproline fractions, as indicators of the direction of collagen metabolism, allows to assess the condition of the connective tissue of the lungs and can serve as a prognostic criterion for the course of the disease. Thus, the indicators of connective tissue metabolism showed significant diagnostic information, which allowed to recommend them for use in the practice of veterinary medicine.