PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hiroko Okabayashi
AU  - Aiko Masunaga
AU  - Hidenori Ichiyasu
AU  - Shinsuke Tsumura
AU  - Keisuke Kojima
AU  - Kazuhiko Fujii
AU  - Naoki Saita
AU  - Hirotsugu Kohrogi
TI  - Serum VEGF-D and VEGFR-3 are biomarkers in lymphangioleiomyomatosis for its diagnosis and impaired pulmonary function
DP  - 2011 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - p633
VI  - 38
IP  - Suppl 55
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p633.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p633.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2011 Sep 01; 38
AB  - Background: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a disease characterized by proliferating LAM cells and LAM-associated lymphangiogenesis. Recently, it has been reported that the serum VEGF-D levels are increased in patients with LAM. Therefore, we hypothesized that VEGF-D and its receptor VEGFR-3 should be biomarkers for LAM.Objectives: To evaluate clinical significance of serum levels of VEGF-C, VEGF-D and VEGFR-3 in patients with LAM.Methods: We measured VEGF-C, VEGF-D and VEGFR-3 in serum of 7 patients with LAM, 4 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and 6 normal subjects by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and compared them with pulmonary function.Results: In patients with LAM, serum VEGF-D levels were significantly increased (2995.1±909.2 pg/ml) compared with patients with COPD and normal subjects (264.7±37.6 pg/ml, 444.9±153.7 pg/ml, respectively). Serum VEGFR-3 levels were also significantly increased in LAM (4511.3±746.7 pg/ml) compared with normal subjects (2633.8±304.1 pg/ml). In patients with LAM, serum VEGF-D levels were negatively correlated with FEV1/FVC (rs=-0.8630; p=0.0269) and%DLCO (rs=-0.9796; p=0.0035), and serum VEGFR-3 levels were negatively correlated with FEV1/FVC (rs=-0.8119; p=0.0498).Conclusion: These results indicate that, in LAM, serum VEGF-D and VEGFR-3 are candidate for biomarkers for the diagnosis and impaired pulmonary function.