PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zsóka Weiszhár
AU  - Gabriella Gálffy
AU  - Zsófia Lázár
AU  - András Bikov
AU  - György Losonczy
AU  - Ildikó Horváth
TI  - Elevated sputum complement factor H levels in COPD: Relationship with disease severity
DP  - 2012 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P794
VI  - 40
IP  - Suppl 56
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P794.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P794.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2012 Sep 01; 40
AB  - Background: Inflammatory processes in COPD are not fully clarified yet. Complement activation products C3a and C5a are elevated in COPD sputa, but complement regulatory proteins, such as factor H, have not been investigated in this disorder.Objective: Our primary goal was to determine airway complement factor H levels in stable and exacerbated COPD in order to gain information about the relationship between factor H level, complement activation and clinical characteristics of disease groups.Methods: We examined complement factor H levels and SC5b-9, a marker of complement activation in plasma and sputa of 15 healthy, 15 stable and 17 exacerbated COPD subjects by ELISA.Results: Factor H and SC5b-9 levels were both higher in sputa of stable COPD patients compared to healthy controls (Factor H: p<0.01, SC5b-9: p=0.03), which further increased in acute exacerbation (Factor H: p<0.0001, SC5b-9: p=0.02), and returned to stable level after 5-7 days of systemic corticosteroid treatment. Plasma concentrations showed similar tendencies, but with much smaller differences. There was a significant positive relationship between sputum factor H levels and FVC (%, r=0.71, p<0.01) as well as FEV1 (%, r=0.57, p=0.04) values in stable patients. Sputum SC5b-9 concentrations correlated with FEF25-75 (%, r=0.55, p=0.04) in stable COPD.Conclusions: Increased sputum factor H level is associated with milder airway obstruction in stable COPD, which may be connected to early inflammatory processes preceeding extensive alveolar destruction.This work was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA 68808).