Urinary eosinophil protein X in children with atopic asthma: A useful marker of antiinflammatory treatment☆,☆☆,★,★★
Section snippets
Study design
The children were seen at two visits, 3 months apart. The visits included a detailed medical history and a thorough physical examination. The samples and tests were performed in the following order: urine, blood sample, spirometry, and skin prick test (SPT). The SPT was performed only at visit 1.
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty, University of Göteborg.
Subjects
Twenty-one children were included: 12 had atopic asthma, and nine without atopy served as control subjects.
Leukocytes, CRP, and total IgE
In the asthma group eosinophil counts were significantly higher than in the control group, both at inclusion and after 3 months (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Other white blood cell counts were similar in both groups. CRP was not greater than 10 mg/L in any patient. Total IgE was significantly higher than that in the control group. No difference was observed between visits 1 and 2 regarding white blood cell counts, CRP, or total IgE (Table III).
Urinary EPX, sECP, sEPX, and sMPO
At inclusion, urinary EPX was
DISCUSSION
The eosinophil-derived proteins MBP and ECP may damage the respiratory epithelium through their cytotoxic effects.6 EPX is not cytotoxic to respiratory epithelium but has neurotoxic and biochemical properties similar to those of ECP.4, 7 Previous studies have shown a correlation between the levels of ECP in serum and BAL fluid in patients with asthma.8, 9, 16 These findings suggest that eosinophil granulocyte proteins in serum may indirectly reflect ongoing airway inflammation. One aim of this
Acknowledgements
We thank Mrs. Agneta Wyholt, RN, for her expert help.
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Cited by (0)
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From the Departments of aPaediatrics and b Virology, University of Göteborg; and cPharmacia Diagnostics AB, Uppsala, Sweden.
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Supported by grants from the First of May Flower Annual Campaign for Children’s Health, the Gothenburg Society of Medicine, the Swedish Society of Medicine, the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, the Gothenburg Masonic Order Orphanage Foundation, and the Research Fund of the Children’s Clinics, Gothenburg.
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Reprint requests: Sigurdur Kristjánsson, MD, PhD, Department of Paediatrics, University of Göteborg, Östra University Hospital, S-416 85 Göteborg, Sweden.
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