HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (14) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hermans, C. Articles by Bernard, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hermans, C. Articles by Bernard, A.

Serum Clara cell protein (CC16), a marker of the integrity of the air-blood barrier in sarcoidosis

¹ Industrial Toxicology and Occupational Medicine Unit, ⁴ Units of Pathology, ⁵ Pneumology, ⁶ General Internal Medicine Units, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. ² Depts of Immunology and ³ Respiratory Medicine, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic

CORRESPONDENCE: C. Hermans, Unit of Industrial Toxicology and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Louvain, 30.54 Clos Chapelle-aux-Champs, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium. Fax: 32 27643228

Keywords: air-blood barrier, alveolitis, Clara cell secretory protein (CC16, CC10, CCSP), lung secretory protein, permeability, sarcoidosis

Received: November 29, 1999
Accepted April 17, 2001

This study was supported by the European Union (EV4-CT96-0171), the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium) and the Czech Ministry of Health (Grants IGA NI5275-2 and CEZ J14/98.151100002). C. Hermans is Research Fellow and A. Bernard Research Director of the National Fund for Scientific Research.

To test the hypothesis that sarcoidosis is associated with an intravascular leakage of lung epithelium secretory proteins, the occurrence and determinants in serum of sarcoid patients of CC16, a small size and readily diffusible lung-specific protein of 16 kDa secreted by bronchiolar Clara cells, was investigated.

CC16 was measured by a sensitive latex immunoassay in the serum of 117 patients with established sarcoidosis and of 117 healthy subjects matched for age, sex and smoking status. Stepwise regression analysis was used to identify extrapulmonary variables of CC16 changes in serum. These changes were then compared with biochemical and cellular parameters in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) as well as with the number of CC16 immunostaining cells on bronchial or pulmonary biopsy samples.

CC16 concentration in serum of sarcoid patients was significantly increased, compared to their matched controls (25.9±16.2 versus 13.9±5.2 µg·L^–1). In nonsmoking patients without significant renal impairment, CC16 in serum increased with the severity of the chest radiograph and computed tomography changes, and was on average 50–100% higher when parenchymal involvement was present. Sarcoid patients had, however, normal levels of CC16 in BALF and an unchanged number of CC16-immunopositive cells in lung biopsy samples, suggesting that an increased secretion of CC16 in the sarcoid lung is very unlikely, and that the elevation of CC16 in sarcoidosis results from an increased intravascular leakage of the protein across the air-blood barrier.

The present study suggests that CC16 in serum might provide a useful tool to noninvasively evaluate the damage and increased permeability to proteins of the air-blood barrier associated with sarcoidosis.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Kriegova, C. Melle, V. Kolek, B. Hutyrova, F. Mrazek, A. Bleul, R. M. du Bois, F. von Eggeling, and M. Petrek Protein Profiles of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid from Patients with Pulmonary Sarcoidosis Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., May 15, 2006; 173(10): 1145 - 1154. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W.-J. P. van Boven, W. B. M. Gerritsen, P. Zanen, J. C. Grutters, H. P. A. van Dongen, A. Bernard, and L. P. H. J. Aarts Pneumoproteins as a Lung-Specific Biomarker of Alveolar Permeability in Conventional On-pump Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery vs Mini-Extracorporeal Circuit: A Pilot Study Chest, April 1, 2005; 127(4): 1190 - 1195. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Janssen, H. Sato, J. C. Grutters, H. J. T. Ruven, R. M. du Bois, R. Matsuura, M. Yamazaki, S. Kunimaru, T. Izumi, K. I. Welsh, et al. The Clara Cell10 Adenine38Guanine Polymorphism and Sarcoidosis Susceptibility in Dutch and Japanese Subjects Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., December 1, 2004; 170(11): 1185 - 1187. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Yoshikawa, J. A. King, S. D. Reynolds, B. R. Stripp, and J. C. Parker Time and pressure dependence of transvascular Clara cell protein, albumin, and IgG transport during ventilator-induced lung injury in mice Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, March 1, 2004; 286(3): L604 - L612. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Ohchi, N. Shijubo, I. Kawabata, S. Ichimiya, S.-i. Inomata, A. Yamaguchi, Y. Umemori, Y. Itoh, S. Abe, Y. Hiraga, et al. Polymorphism of Clara Cell 10-kD Protein Gene of Sarcoidosis Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., January 15, 2004; 169(2): 180 - 186. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Blomberg, I. Mudway, M. Svensson, A. Hagenbjork-Gustafsson, L. Thomasson, R. Helleday, X. Dumont, B. Forsberg, G. Nordberg, and A. Bernard Clara cell protein as a biomarker for ozone-induced lung injury in humans Eur. Respir. J., December 1, 2003; 22(6): 883 - 888. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Janssen, H. Sato, J. C. Grutters, A. Bernard, H. van Velzen-Blad, R. M. du Bois, and J. M. M. van den Bosch Study of Clara Cell 16, KL-6, and Surfactant Protein-D in Serum as Disease Markers in Pulmonary Sarcoidosis Chest, December 1, 2003; 124(6): 2119 - 2125. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]