International Journal of COPD (Apr 2019)

Reproducibility of fluid-phase measurements in PBS-treated sputum supernatant of healthy and stable COPD subjects

  • Wang FY,
  • Liang ZY,
  • Yang YQ,
  • Zhou LQ,
  • Guan LL,
  • Wu WL,
  • Jiang M,
  • Shi WJ,
  • Deng KM,
  • Chen JH,
  • Chen RC

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 835 – 852

Abstract

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Fengyan Wang,1,* Zhenyu Liang,1,* Yuqiong Yang,1 Luqian Zhou,1 Lili Guan,1 Weiliang Wu,1 Mei Jiang,1 Weijuan Shi,1 Kuimiao Deng,1 Jianhua Chen,2 Rongchang Chen1 1State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, People’s Republic of China; 2Respiratory Medicine Department, Guangzhou Panyu Central Hospital, Guangzhou 511400, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of fluid-phase measurements in PBS-treated sputum supernatant, processed using the two-step method, of healthy and stable COPD individuals.Methods: Nine healthy subjects and 23 stable COPD patients provided sputum twice within 6 days. A two-step sputum processing method was used to obtain PBS-treated supernatant and sputum cells. Soluble protein markers and IgG and IgM autoantibody profiles in PBS supernatant were analyzed using customized microarrays. Repeatability of measurements was assessed by paired-sample testing and an intraclass correlation coefficient, then graphically reported by Bland–Altman plot.Results: There was no significant difference between the repeated detection of 8/10 types of soluble protein markers, all 13 types of IgG autoantibodies, and 12/13 types of corresponding IgM autoantibodies in PBS supernatant. The repeatability of measurements in PBS supernatant was substantial to very good for interleukin 6 (IL6), IL8, IL13, IL10, IL33, vascular endothelial growth factor, soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products, and tumor necrosis factor-α; for IgG autoantibodies against aggrecan, centromere protein B (CENP-B), collagen II, collagen IV, cytochrome C, elastin, heat shock protein 47 (HSP47), HSP70, and La/Sjögren syndrome type B antigen; for IgM autoantibodies against CENP-B, collagen I, collagen II, collagen IV, cytokeratin 18, and HSP70; and for sputum neutrophils, macrophages and eosinophils count. Bland–Altman plots suggested good consistency within repeated measurements. Stable COPD patients differed from healthy subjects in the proportion of neutrophils and eosinophils; relative fluorescence intensity of anti-cytochrome C IgG, anti-aggrecan IgM, and anti-cytochrome C IgM. There was a significant positive correlation for stable COPD patients between sputum anti-collagen II IgG and post-bronchodilator FEV1%.Conclusion: We confirmed fluid-phase measurements in PBS-treated sputum supernatant by high-throughput techniques with good repeatability. We demonstrated the presence of IgG and IgM autoantibodies to multiple antigens in the airways of COPD patients. Keywords: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, soluble protein markers, autoantibody, reproducibility, sputum

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