TY - JOUR T1 - Three-year follow-up study of inflammatory markers in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p3481 AU - Renata Ferrari AU - Suzana Tanni AU - Laura Caram AU - Camila Corrêa AU - Corina Corrêa AU - Rosana Martin AU - Irma Godoy Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3481.abstract N2 - Studies show that values of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) does not change significantly in COPD patients over one-year period. However, long-term studies of these mediators are lacking. We aimed to evaluate the IL-6 and CRP over 3 years in 53 COPD patients (66% male, age = 63±9 years, FEV1 = 56±21%). At baseline eight patients (15%) presented mild, 36% moderate, 21% severe and 28% very severe disease. There was no difference in the proportion of patients within each disease severity category, in the predicted FEV1% and BMI over the period. However, tolerance exercise, dyspnea and BODE index worsened after three years. Plasma concentration of Interleukin-6 was measured by high sensitivity ELISA (BioSource International Inc, Ca, USA) and C-reactive protein were obtained by high sensitivity particle-enhanced immunonephelometry (CardioPhase, Dade Behring Marburg GmbH, Marburg, USA). Although, CRP did not change [5 (1.6-7.9) vs 4.7 (1.7-10) pg/L; p>0.05], 11 patients (21%) presented changes >3 mg/L in CRP after 3 years. IL6 increased significantly after 3 years compared to baseline measurements [0.8 (0.5-1.3) vs 2.4 (1.3-4.4) pg/ml; p<0.001]. CRP was significantly correlated with IL-6 at baseline and after three-year period (r = 0.54, p<0.001; r = 0.53, p< 0.001, respectively). In conclusion, the systemic inflammatory process, evaluated by CRP and IL-6, seems to be persistent and progressive in COPD patients.Research supported by FAPESP (2010/08527-0). R. Ferrari is the recipient of a fellowship from FAPESP (2010/08557-6). ER -