Emergent Inflammatory Markers and Echocardiographic Indices in Patients with Bronchial Asthma
Nikolaos A. Gkavogiannakis,
James N. Tsoporis,
Ioannis-Alexandros Drosatos,
George Tsirebolos,
Shehla Izhar,
Eleftherios Sakadakis,
Andreas S. Triantafyllis,
Thomas G. Parker,
Lampros A. Kalogiros,
Howard Leong-Poi,
Loukianos S. Rallidis,
Ioannis Rizos
Affiliations
Nikolaos A. Gkavogiannakis
Allergy Unit “D. Kalogeromitros”, Attikon University Hospital, 124 62 Athens, Greece
James N. Tsoporis
Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
Ioannis-Alexandros Drosatos
Second Department of Cardiology, Attikon University Hospital, 124 62 Athens, Greece
George Tsirebolos
Second Department of Cardiology, Attikon University Hospital, 124 62 Athens, Greece
Shehla Izhar
Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
Eleftherios Sakadakis
Second Department of Cardiology, Attikon University Hospital, 124 62 Athens, Greece
Andreas S. Triantafyllis
Second Department of Cardiology, Attikon University Hospital, 124 62 Athens, Greece
Thomas G. Parker
Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
Lampros A. Kalogiros
Allergy & Clinical Immunology Department, 401 General Military Hospital of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece
Howard Leong-Poi
Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5B 1W8, Canada
Loukianos S. Rallidis
Second Department of Cardiology, Attikon University Hospital, 124 62 Athens, Greece
Ioannis Rizos
Second Department of Cardiology, Attikon University Hospital, 124 62 Athens, Greece
Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, characterized by chronic inflammation and oxidative stress of the airways. Several inflammatory pathways including activation of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) have been described in the course of the disease. DJ-1 is a redox-sensitive protein with multifaceted roles in mast cell homeostasis and an emerging role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Moreover, cardiac function abnormalities have been described via echocardiography in patients with asthma. The main aim of this study was to investigate the plasma levels of RAGE, its ligands and DJ-1 in asthmatic patients pre- and post-treatment along with echocardiographic indices of cardiovascular function. The study population was divided into two groups. Group A included 13 patients with newly diagnosed bronchial asthma who were free of treatment for at least two weeks and Group B included 12 patients without asthma. An echocardiography examination was performed on all patients. The plasma levels of RAGE, its ligands (AGEs, S100A12, S100B, S100A8/A9), the interleukins (IL-6, IL-1β) and DJ-1 were measured. No differences were noted among the two groups for baseline characteristics and echocardiographic indices of cardiac function. In Group A, 31% suffered from mild asthma, 54% from moderate asthma and 15% from severe asthma. Plasma levels of IL-6, AGEs and AGE/RAGE ratio were increased and those of S100A12 and DJ-1 were decreased in asthmatics. Pharmacotherapy with corticosteroids/β2-agonists decreased IL-6, and AGEs, and increased DJ-1. In search of novel approaches in diagnosing and treating patients with asthma, S100A12, ratio AGE/sRAGE, and DJ-1 in addition to IL-6 may prove to be useful tools.
