Association between serum CCL-18 and IL-23 concentrations and disease progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Biaoxue Rong,Kai Li,Congxue Rong,Wen Liu,Hua Liu,Tian Fu

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-73903-6

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the association between serum concentrations of chemokine (C–C Motif) ligand 18 (CCL-18) and interleukin 23 (IL-23) and clinical parameters of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The serum concentrations of CCL-18 and IL-23 were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The association between their concentrations and clinical parameters of COPD patients were analyzed by linear regression, logistic regression and ROC curve. The results showed that the serum concentrations of CCL-18 and IL-23 in COPD patients were increased compared with healthy people (P < 0.001) and that patients with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) had higher serum CCL-18 and IL-23 concentrations than stable patients (P < 0.001). Synergistic increase of CCL-18 and IL-23 in COPD patients was positively correlated with COPD patients' higher GOLD grade (P < 0.001), higher mMRC score (P < 0.001) and longer medical history (P < 0.001), but negatively correlated with the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) (P < 0.001) and FEV1% predicted (P < 0.001). The serum concentrations of CCL-18 and IL-23 were most related to the GOLD grade (OR = 2.764 for CCL-18 and OR = 4.215 for IL-23) and detection of both showed considerable sensitivity (72.57% for CCL-18 and 76.92% for IL-23) and specificity (92.50% for CCL-18 and 77.5% for IL-23) in identifying COPD. Increased serum concentrations of CCL-18 and IL-23 correlated with the disease progression of COPD and they could be used as biomarkers for disease evaluation of COPD.

Highlights

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease characterized by persistent airflow limitation
Serum concentrations of CCL‐18 and IL‐23 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients are higher than that in healthy people and the increase of serum CCL‐18 and IL‐23 correlates with clinical stage of COPD
The CCL-18 concentrations in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) (277.20 ± 35.76 ng/mL) showed a significant increase compared with stable COPD patients (194.49 ± 57.12 ng/mL) (t = − 8.438, p < 0.001)

Summary

Introduction

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease characterized by persistent airflow limitation. Studies suggest that chronic airway inflammation in COPD involves multiple cytokines, which causes high secretion of mucus and obstruction of small airways, as well as damage to the lung parenchyma, and resulting in restricted airflow and excessive lung inflation[3,4,5,6]. Interleukin 23 (IL-23) cytokine is a heterodimeric cytokine consisting of the two subunits p19 and p40, Scientific Reports | (2020) 10:17756 It is an inducer of T helper cell 17 (Th17) cells and a component of IL-23/IL-17 immune pathway[7]. Studies show that IL-23 can induce naive CD4+ T cells to differentiate into highly pathogenic Th17/Thil-17 cells and the latter produces some inflammatory mediators and cytokines such as IL-6, IL-17 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), involving in process of many diseases[7,8,9,10,11]. The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in the serum concentrations of CCL18 and IL-23 in patients with COPD, and explore the associations between their concentrations and clinical parameters of COPD

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Discussion

Conclusion