PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Michael D. Weiden
AU  - Bushra Naveed
AU  - Sophia Kwon
AU  - Soo Jung Cho
AU  - Ashley L. Comfort
AU  - David J. Prezant
AU  - William N. Rom
AU  - Anna Nolan
TI  - Cardiovascular disease biomarkers predict susceptibility or resistance to lung injury in World Trade Center dust exposed firefighters
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.00077012
DP  - 2012 Jan 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - erj00770-2012
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2012/08/16/09031936.00077012.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2012/08/16/09031936.00077012.full
AB  - Pulmonary vascular loss is an early feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Biomarkers of inflammation and of metabolic syndrome, predicts loss of lung function in World Trade Center Lung Injury(WTC-LI). We investigated if other cardiovascular disease (CVD) biomarkers also predicted WTC-LI.This nested case-cohort study used 801 never smoker, WTC exposed firefighters with normal pre-9/11 lung function presenting for subspecialty pulmonary evaluation (SPE) before March, 2008. A representative sub-cohort of 124/801 with serum drawn within six months of 9/11 defined CVD biomarker distribution. Post-9/11/01 FEV1 at subspecialty exam defined cases: susceptible WTC-LI cases with FEV1≤77% predicted (66/801) and resistant WTC-LI cases with FEV1≥107% (68/801). All models were adjusted for WTC exposure intensity, BMI at SPE, age at 9/11, and pre-9/11 FEV1.Susceptible WTC-LI cases had higher levels of Apo-AII, CRP, and MIP-4 with significant RRs of 3.85, 3.93, and 0.26 respectively with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.858. Resistant WTC-LI cases had significantly higher sVCAM and lower MPO with RRs of 2.24, and 2.89 respectively; AUC 0.830.Biomarkers of CVD in serum six-month post-9/11 predicted either susceptibility or resistance to WTC-LI. These biomarkers may define pathways producing or protecting subjects from pulmonary vascular disease and associated loss of lung function after an irritant exposure.