Biomarker Commons

Severe vitamin D deficiency: a biomarker of exacerbation risk? : a reply to Heulens.

Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2013 Jan 15;187(2):215-6

Authors: Kunisaki KM, Niewoehner DE, Connett JE

PMID: 23441318 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Severe vitamin D deficiency: a biomarker of exacerbation risk?

Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2013 Jan 15;187(2):214-5

Authors: Heulens N, Decramer M, Janssens W

PMID: 23322797 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Small airways, big challenge: measuring the unseen?

Nat Med. 2012 Nov;18(11):1619-21

Authors: Siddiqui S, Usmani OS

Abstract
An imaging technique adapted to differentiate between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease phenotypes can identify small-airway pathophysiology, locate the disease and potentially track disease progression. This approach may be used as a biomarker to identify the small-airway lesion in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, at an individual level in the clinic (pages 1711-1715).

PMID: 23135513 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Computed tomography-based biomarker provides unique signature for diagnosis of COPD phenotypes and disease progression.

Nat Med. 2012 Nov;18(11):1711-5

Authors: Galbán CJ, Han MK, Boes JL, Chughtai KA, Meyer CR, Johnson TD, Galbán S, Rehemtulla A, Kazerooni EA, Martinez FJ, Ross BD

Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is increasingly being recognized as a highly heterogeneous disorder, composed of varying pathobiology. Accurate detection of COPD subtypes by image biomarkers is urgently needed to enable individualized treatment, thus improving patient outcome. We adapted the parametric response map (PRM), a voxel-wise image analysis technique, for assessing COPD phenotype. We analyzed whole-lung computed tomography (CT) scans acquired at inspiration and expiration of 194 individuals with COPD from the COPDGene study. PRM identified the extent of functional small airways disease (fSAD) and emphysema as well as provided CT-based evidence that supports the concept that fSAD precedes emphysema with increasing COPD severity. PRM is a versatile imaging biomarker capable of diagnosing disease extent and phenotype while providing detailed spatial information of disease distribution and location. PRM's ability to differentiate between specific COPD phenotypes will allow for more accurate diagnosis of individual patients, complementing standard clinical techniques.

PMID: 23042237 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

CC-16 as a biomarker in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

COPD. 2012 Aug;9(5):574-5

Authors: Dickens JA, Lomas DA

PMID: 23030587 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Telomere length is a biomarker of cumulative oxidative stress, biologic age, and an independent predictor of survival and therapeutic treatment requirement associated with smoking behavior.

Am J Ther. 2011 Nov;18(6):e209-26

Authors: Babizhayev MA, Savel'yeva EL, Moskvina SN, Yegorov YE

Abstract
Globally, tobacco use is associated with 5 million deaths per annum and is regarded as one of the leading causes of premature death. Major chronic disorders associated with smoking include cardiovascular diseases, several types of cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (lung problems). Cigarette smoking (CS) generates a cumulative oxidative stress, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic diseases. Mainstream and side stream gas-phase smoke each have about the same concentration of reactive free radical species, about 1 × 10(16) radicals per cigarette (or 5 × 10(14) per puff). This effect is critical in understanding the biologic effects of smoke. Several lines of evidence suggest that cigarette smoke constituents can directly activate vascular reactive oxygen species production. In this work we present multiple evidence that CS provide the important risk factors in many age-related diseases, and is associated with increased cumulative and systemic oxidative stress and inflammation. The cited processes are marked by increased white blood cell (leucocytes, WBCs) turnover. The data suggest an alteration of the circulating WBCs by CS, resulting in increased adherence to endothelial cells. Telomeres are complex DNA-protein structures located at the end of eukaryotic chromosomes. Telomere length shortens with biologic age in all replicating somatic cells. It has been shown that tobacco smoking enhances telomere shortening in circulating human WBCs. Telomere attrition (expressed in WBCs) can serve as a biomarker of the cumulative oxidative stress and inflammation induced by smoking and, consequently, show the pace of biologic aging. We originally propose that patented specific oral formulations of nonhydrolized carnosine and carcinine provide a powerful tool for targeted therapeutic inhibition of cumulative oxidative stress and inflammation and protection of telomere attrition associated with smoking. The longitudinal studies of the clinical population groups described in this study including elderly support the hypothesis that telomere length is a predictor of survival and therapeutic treatment requirement associated with smoking behavior.

PMID: 20228673 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Genome-wide association analysis of blood biomarkers in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012 Dec 15;186(12):1238-47

Authors: Kim DK, Cho MH, Hersh CP, Lomas DA, Miller BE, Kong X, Bakke P, Gulsvik A, Agustí A, Wouters E, Celli B, Coxson H, Vestbo J, MacNee W, Yates JC, Rennard S, Litonjua A, Qiu W, Beaty TH, Crapo JD, Riley JH, Tal-Singer R, Silverman EK, ECLIPSE, ICGN, and COPDGene Investigators

Abstract
RATIONALE: A genome-wide association study (GWAS) for circulating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) biomarkers could identify genetic determinants of biomarker levels and COPD susceptibility.
OBJECTIVES: To identify genetic variants of circulating protein biomarkers and novel genetic determinants of COPD.
METHODS: GWAS was performed for two pneumoproteins, Clara cell secretory protein (CC16) and surfactant protein D (SP-D), and five systemic inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α) in 1,951 subjects with COPD. For genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (P < 1 × 10(-8)), association with COPD susceptibility was tested in 2,939 cases with COPD and 1,380 smoking control subjects. The association of candidate SNPs with mRNA expression in induced sputum was also elucidated.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Genome-wide significant susceptibility loci affecting biomarker levels were found only for the two pneumoproteins. Two discrete loci affecting CC16, one region near the CC16 coding gene (SCGB1A1) on chromosome 11 and another locus approximately 25 Mb away from SCGB1A1, were identified, whereas multiple SNPs on chromosomes 6 and 16, in addition to SNPs near SFTPD, had genome-wide significant associations with SP-D levels. Several SNPs affecting circulating CC16 levels were significantly associated with sputum mRNA expression of SCGB1A1 (P = 0.009-0.03). Several SNPs highly associated with CC16 or SP-D levels were nominally associated with COPD in a collaborative GWAS (P = 0.001-0.049), although these COPD associations were not replicated in two additional cohorts.
CONCLUSIONS: Distant genetic loci and biomarker-coding genes affect circulating levels of COPD-related pneumoproteins. A subset of these protein quantitative trait loci may influence their gene expression in the lung and/or COPD susceptibility. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00292552).

PMID: 23144326 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Critical COPD respiratory illness is linked to increased transcriptomic activity of neutrophil proteases genes.

BMC Res Notes. 2012;5:401

Authors: Almansa R, Socias L, Sanchez-Garcia M, Martín-Loeches I, del Olmo M, Andaluz-Ojeda D, Bobillo F, Rico L, Herrero A, Roig V, San-Jose CA, Rosich S, Barbado J, Disdier C, de Lejarazu RO, Gallegos MC, Fernandez V, Bermejo-Martin JF

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Gene expression profiling (GEP) in cells obtained from peripheral blood has shown that this is a very useful approach for biomarker discovery and for studying molecular pathogenesis of prevalent diseases. While there is limited literature available on gene expression markers associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), the transcriptomic picture associated with critical respiratory illness in this disease is not known at the present moment.
FINDINGS: By using Agilent microarray chips, we have profiled gene expression signatures in the whole blood of 28 COPD patients hospitalized with different degrees of respiratory compromise.12 of them needed of admission to the ICU, whilst 16 were admitted to the Respiratory Medicine Service. GeneSpring GX 11.0 software was used for performing statistical comparisons of transcript levels between ICU and non-ICU patients. Ingenuity pathway analysis 8.5 (IPA) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to select, annotate and visualize genes by function and pathway (gene ontology). T-test showed evidence of 1501 genes differentially expressed between ICU and non-ICU patients. IPA and KEGG analysis of the most representative biological functions revealed that ICU patients had increased levels of neutrophil gene transcripts, being [cathepsin G (CTSG)], [elastase, neutrophil expressed (ELANE)], [proteinase 3 (PRTN3)], [myeloperoxidase (MPO)], [cathepsin D (CTSD)], [defensin, alpha 3, neutrophil-specific (DEFA3)], azurocidin 1 (AZU1)], and [bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI)] the most representative ones. Proteins codified by these genes form part of the azurophilic granules of neutrophils and are involved in both antimicrobial defence and tissue damage. This "neutrophil signature" was paralleled by the necessity of advanced respiratory and vital support, and the presence of bacterial infection.
CONCLUSION: Study of transcriptomic signatures in blood suggests an essential role of neutrophil proteases in COPD patients with critical respiratory illness. Measurement and modulation of the expression of these genes could present an option for clinical monitoring and treatment of severe COPD exacerbations.

PMID: 22852767 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Increased circulating endothelial microparticles in COPD patients: a potential biomarker for COPD exacerbation susceptibility.

Thorax. 2012 Dec;67(12):1067-74

Authors: Takahashi T, Kobayashi S, Fujino N, Suzuki T, Ota C, He M, Yamada M, Suzuki S, Yanai M, Kurosawa S, Yamaya M, Kubo H

Abstract
RATIONALE: The influence of COPD exacerbation on the endothelium is not completely understood. Circulating endothelial microparticles (EMPs) are membrane vesicles in circulating blood that are shed by activated or apoptotic endothelial cells.
OBJECTIVE: To compare EMP numbers in stable COPD patients with those during and after exacerbation.
METHODS: We examined the EMP numbers in 80 stable COPD patients, 27 patients with exacerbated COPD, and 20 healthy non-COPD volunteers. EMPs were defined as CD144+ MPs (VE-cadherin EMPs), CD31+/CD41- MPs (PECAM EMPs), CD146 MPs (MCAM EMPs) and CD62E+ EMPs (E-selectin EMPs) as analysed by FACS. Von Willebrand factor (vWF) expression was utilised to identify the origins of the EMPs.
RESULTS: VE-cadherin, PECAM and E-selectin EMP numbers were significantly higher in the stable COPD patients than in the non-COPD volunteers, and they were significantly higher in the patients with exacerbated COPD than in the stable COPD patients. The majority of these increased EMPs were vWF-negative, indicating a pulmonary capillary origin. Baseline E-selectin EMP levels were significantly higher in COPD patients who experienced frequent exacerbations than in those who did not have frequent exacerbations (p<0.001). Twenty-eight days after the onset of exacerbation, E-selectin EMP levels returned to those observed in stable COPD patients, whereas PECAM EMP levels remained high. MCAM EMP numbers were not elevated in stable or exacerbated-COPD patients.
CONCLUSIONS: Endothelial damage, mainly in pulmonary capillaries, occurs during exacerbation and continues even after clinical symptoms disappear. Higher baseline E-selectin EMP levels may indicate COPD patients who are susceptible to exacerbation.

PMID: 22843558 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Assessment of pulmonary neutrophilic inflammation in emphysema by quantitative positron emission tomography.

Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012 Dec 1;186(11):1125-32

Authors: Subramanian DR, Jenkins L, Edgar R, Quraishi N, Stockley RA, Parr DG

Abstract
RATIONALE: Neutrophilic inflammation is understood to be of pathogenetic importance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and may be quantified using 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography ((18)FDG PET-CT) as a noninvasive, spatially informative biomarker.
OBJECTIVES: To assess the potential usefulness of (18)FDG PET-CT as a surrogate measure of pulmonary neutrophilic inflammation in patients with usual COPD and α(1)-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD).
METHODS: (18)FDG PET-CT imaging was performed in 10 patients with usual COPD, 10 patients with AATD, and 10 healthy control subjects. Pulmonary (18)FDG uptake was estimated by three-dimensional Patlak graphical analysis as an indicator of pulmonary neutrophilic glycolytic activity. Patients with AATD were treated with 12 weekly intravenous infusions of AAT augmentation therapy before repeat imaging. (18)FDG uptake, lung physiology, lung density, and systemic markers of inflammation were compared for all groups at baseline and, in patients with AATD, at baseline and on treatment.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: (18)FDG uptake in the upper lung of patients with usual COPD was greater compared with the healthy control group (P = 0.009) and correlated with measures of disease severity (FEV(1)% predicted, r = -0.848, P = 0.001; FEV(1)/FVC, r = -0.918, P < 0.001; Kco% predicted, r = -0.624, P = 0.027; 15th percentile point, r = -0.709, P = 0.011). No significant difference was observed between measurements at baseline and on treatment in patients with AATD.
CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative (18)FDG PET-CT has a potential role as an imaging biomarker in mechanistic and interventional studies in patients with usual COPD. The data support previous evidence of distinct functional characteristics of neutrophils in COPD. Clinical trial registered with https://eudract.ema.europa.eu/index.html (EudraCT 2007-004869-18).

PMID: 22837375 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Decreased soluble dipeptidyl peptidase IV activity as a potential serum biomarker for COPD.

Clin Biochem. 2012 Oct;45(15):1245-50

Authors: Somborac-Bačura A, Buljević S, Rumora L, Čulić O, Detel D, Pancirov D, Popović-Grle S, Varljen J, Čepelak I, Žanić-Grubišić T

Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to measure soluble dipeptidyl peptidase IV (sDPPIV) activity in sera of patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in comparison to healthy controls. The main goal was to assess changes in the enzyme activity in relation to severity of the disease, age and smoking history and to evaluate diagnostic accuracy for prediction of COPD by level of serum sDPPIV activity.
DESIGN AND METHODS: The study included 106 patients with stable COPD (GOLD II-GOLD IV stages) and 38 healthy controls. Serum sDPPIV activity as well as some inflammatory markers (CRP, total and differential leukocyte counts) was measured. Multivariate logistic regression models were applied to analyze association of sDPPIV activity and inflammatory markers in risk estimation for COPD development.
RESULTS: sDPPIV activity in COPD patients was significantly reduced when compared to healthy controls. Decrease was observed already in GOLD II stage. Age and smoking history did not influence sDPPIV activity. Very good diagnostic accuracy (AUC=0.833; sensitivity and specificity of 85.7% and 78.9%, respectively) for GOLD II and good diagnostic accuracy (AUC=0.801; sensitivity and specificity of 65.1% and 86.8%, respectively) for total cohort of COPD patients were found. The multivariate logistic regression model showed that the use of sDPPIV in combination with CRP and lymphocyte proportion improved diagnostic strength and gave an AUC of 0.933.
CONCLUSIONS: sDPPIV activity is decreased in COPD patients as early as in GOLD II stage. Very good diagnostic accuracy of sDPPIV activity suggests it as a candidate biomarker for early diagnosis of COPD.

PMID: 22580392 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Effects of extra-fine inhaled and oral corticosteroids on alveolar nitric oxide in COPD.

Lung. 2012 Aug;190(4):395-401

Authors: Short PM, Williamson PA, Lipworth BJ

Abstract
PURPOSE: Alveolar nitric oxide (CA(NO)) has been suggested as a surrogate marker of distal airway inflammation in COPD. Coarse particle-inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) have been shown not to suppress CA(NO). We evaluated whether extra-fine particle size ICS (HFA-BDP) or systemic oral corticosteroids could suppress CA(NO) in COPD.
METHODS: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with a FEV1/FVC ratio <0.7, FEV1 <80% predicted with CA(NO) > 2 ppb underwent a double-blind randomized, controlled, crossover trial with an open-label systemic steroid comparator. After a 2 week steroid washout period, participants were randomized to 3 weeks of 100 mcg of HFA-BDP twice daily and then 3 weeks of 400 mcg of HFA-BDP twice daily, or matched placebos with subsequent crossover. All patients then received 1 week open-label, 25 mg/day of prednisolone. Exhaled nitric oxide, plasma cortisol, and lung function were recorded. CA(NO) was corrected for axial diffusion.
RESULTS: In 16 participants, there were no significant differences seen with either dose of HFA-BDP compared with placebo. Oral prednisolone significantly reduced FE(NO) and J'aw(NO) but not CA(NO). Plasma cortisol was significantly suppressed by oral prednisolone only.
CONCLUSIONS: Whilst CA(NO) remains a biomarker of interest in COPD, it is not suppressed by systemic or extra-fine particle ICS. CA(NO) is not a useful marker for monitoring response of small airway disease to therapies in COPD. The study was approved by the local Committee on Medical Research Ethics and registered on ClinicalTrials.Gov (NCT 00921921).

PMID: 22350679 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]