RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Altered composition of airway basement membranes in COPD
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP p3820
VO 38
IS Suppl 55
A1 Oskar Hallgren
A1 Annika Andersson-Sjöland
A1 Elisabet Wieslander
A1 Martina Kvist-Reimer
A1 Magnus Dahlbäck
A1 Leif Ericsson
A1 Jonas Erjefält
A1 Leif Bjermer
A1 Claes-Göran Löfdahl
A1 Gunilla Westergren-Thorsson
YR 2011
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3820.abstract
AB Rationale: The basement membrane provides a chemical and mechanical structure which is crucial for the mucosal homeostasis in the airways. Thickening of lamina reticularis is a common feature in asthma but the situation in COPD is less clear. Our hypothesis was that there are quantitative and qualitative alterations in airway basement membranes in COPD that influence the integrity of epithelial and mesenchymal cells.Methods: Lung tissue sections from COPD patients and control subjects were subjected to H & E and picrosirius-RED staining. Sections were also immunostained using antibodies against the small proteoglycans: decorin and biglycan. Fibroblasts were isolated from lung explants from COPD patients (n=8) (GOLD stage IV) and biopsies from control subjects (n=9) and proteoglycan production were examined in vitro.Results: Hematoxylin/Eosin-staining showed an unevenly distributed thickening of lamina reticularis in bronchial and bronchiolar airways from COPD patients but not from control subjects. The thickened areas stained positive for picrosirius RED, which shows the presence of fibrillar collagens (collagen I and III). This was accompanied with increased immuno-positivity for the small leucin-rich proteoglycans decorin and biglycan. Fibroblasts isolated from bronchial specimen from COPD patients had decreased production of the basement membrane stabilizing proteoglycan perlecan (p<0.05).Conclusions: This data indicate that there are qualitative and quantitative alterations of airway basement membranes in COPD. We suggest that the observed alterations are indicators of areas with active remodeling which influence the phenotype of epithelial cells and underlying mesenchymal cells which may result in fibrotic deposition.