High Serum Fractalkine/CX3CL1 in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Relationship with Emphysema Severity and Frequent Exacerbation.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum fractalkine (CX3CL1/FKN) level and the multi-slice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) emphysema index in Chinese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We detected chemokine CX3CL1 in serum from 95 Chinese patients with COPD by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. According to the MSCT emphysema index, the selected cases were divided into an emphysema-dominant group (n = 25) and a non-emphysema-dominant group (n = 70). There were significant differences in body mass index and lung function between the two groups. The serum level of CX3CL1 in the emphysema-dominant group was significantly higher than that in the non-emphysema-dominant group. Through multivariate logistic regression analysis, it was found that high serum CX3CL1 levels were independently associated with emphysema, with a relative risk of 2.617 (95% CI 1.018-6.121; P = 0.029). The percentage of frequent acute exacerbations during the first year of follow-up was significantly higher in the high-level serum CX3CL1 group (P = 0.039). After 3years of follow-up, there was no significant difference in the CT emphysema index between the high and low serum CX3CL1 groups (P = 0.503). Our results suggest that the serum level of CX3CL1 is related to the MSCT emphysema index. Chemokine CX3CL1 might be a useful predictor for identifying frequent exacerbation and emphysema severity in patients with COPD.