Leukotrienes B4, C4, D4 and E4 in the Exhaled Breath Condensate (EBC), Blood and Urine in Patients with Pneumoconiosis

Abstract

Leukotrienes (LTs) are involved in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis and were increased in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of the patients with pneumoconiosis. However the possible influence of extra-pulmonary disorders on the EBC markers is not known. Therefore in parallel with EBC, LTs' levels in the plasma and urine were measured in patients with pneumoconiosis (45 × asbestos exposure, 37 × silica exposure) and in 27 controls. Individual LTs B4, C4, D4 and E4 were measured by liquid chromatography − electrospray ionization − tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). In EBC, LT D4 and LT E4 were increased in both groups of patients (p<0.001 and p<0.05), comparing with the controls. Both LT B4 and cysteinyl LTs were elevated in asbestosexposed subjects (p<0.05). Asbestosis with more severe radiological signs (s1/s2-t3/u2) and lung functions impairment has shown higher cysteinyl LTs and LT C4 in the EBC (p<0.05) than mild asbestosis (s1/s0-s1/s1). In addition, in the subjects with asbestosis, cysteinyl LTs in EBC correlated with TLC (−0.313, p<0.05) and TLCO/Hb (−0.307, p<0.05), and LT C4 with TLC (−0.358, p<0.05). In pneumoconioses, EBC appears the most useful from the 3 fluids studied.

Determining the presence of asthma-related molecules and salivary contamination in exhaled breath condensate

“…Previous investigations have reported the presence of eicosanoids in EBC [11, 15, 37, 38]. Many of these groups have reported higher concentrations of eicosanoids than those shown in Table 1 of the current study; the majority of these studies were conducted in the context of lung disease such as asthma where elevated levels may due to inflammation.…”

“…For example, Pelclová et al [11] collected EBC over 15-20 min using the ECoScreen. They analyzed EBC of 82 patients with occupational lung diseases & 27 controls were analyzed using SPE followed by LC-ESI-MS/MS.…”

“…EBC is increasingly used as a tool for biomarker discovery; it can be obtained non-invasively and reflects the physiology of the airway lining, thereby providing vital information about lung health. Publications have reported on the benefits of EBC as a quick screening tool for lung diseases such as asthma [3–6], pneumonia [5], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [5–8], cystic fibrosis [4, 9, 10], and pneumoconiosis [11]; these suggest the potential for EBC to be used in point-of-care diagnostics.…”

The Mercapturomic Profile of Health and Non-Communicable Diseases

“…CysLTs are important inflammatory mediators in the pathophysiology of respiratory disorders (Table 1) [39,40,41,42]. They are potent bronchoconstrictors and can cause acute and chronic structural defects in the airways [43,44,45].…”

“…CysLTs have also been associated to silica-induced lung fibrogenesis [49]. In fact, increased LTE4 levels were observed in exhaled breath condensate of patients with pneumoconiosis derived from asbestos and silica exposure [39].…”