Abstract
BackgroundThe determination of systemic inflammatory markers is one of the important directions to study the pathogenesis of asthma and improve the diagnosis of asthma. Current studies have found that the 14-3-3 protein family subtypes interact with target proteins to participate in the pathogenesis of a variety of immune inflammatory diseases. However, studies on serum tyrosine3-monooxygenase/tryptophan5-monooxygenase activation protein β (14-3-3β) in asthma are scarce. This study aimed to assess the clinical significance of 14-3-3β in asthmatic patients.MethodsWe recruited 54 asthmatic patients with acute exacerbation and 50 asthmatic patients with chronic persistent. The normal control group included 54 healthy individuals. Clinical characteristics, clinical indicators [fractional expiratory nitric oxide (FeNO), eosinophil count, forced vital capacity (FVC), percent of predicted FVC (FVC% predicted), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), percent of predicted FEV1 (FEV1% predicted), the ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) and serum 14-3-3β levels were measured to compare among each group. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the correlation between 14-3-3β and clinical indicators. Finally, Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves analysis was used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of 14-3-3β.ResultsOur results showed that median (interquartile range) of serum 14-3-3β concentration (ng/mL) in acute exacerbation group of asthma (41.18 [33.06–51.76]) was much higher than that in normal control group (24.99 [17.43–29.91]; P < 0.001) and chronic persistent group of asthma (25.88 [21.03–34.55]; P < 0.001). Spearman’s correlation coefficient shows that the serum 14-3-3β level was positively correlated with FeNO (r = − 0.292, P = 0.032) and peripheral blood eosinophil count (r = 0.328, P = 0.016), and was negatively related to FEV1/FVC (r = − 0.293, P = 0.031) in the acute exacerbation group of asthma. At the same time, the serum 14-3-3β level was also negatively associated with FEV1 (r = − 0.297, P = 0.036) in the chronic persistent group of asthma. ROC curve analysis comparing acute exacerbation group of asthma with normal control group demonstrated a significant (P < 0.001) AUC of 0.90 (95% CI 0.85–0.96).ConclusionThe serum 14-3-3β protein may become a potential biomarker in asthmatic patients with acute exacerbation.
Highlights
The determination of systemic inflammatory markers is one of the important directions to study the pathogenesis of asthma and improve the diagnosis of asthma
The best known endotype of asthma is type-2-high asthma, Wang et al Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol (2021) 17:104 characterized by airway and blood eosinophilia, and the presence of biomarkers that depend on the type 2 cytokine IL-13, such as exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) [1]
Clinical characteristics and clinical indicators for all participants This case control study included 104 asthmatic patients. 54 cases were in the acute exacerbation group, with an age range between 19 and 66 years, and a median of 45 years, including 23 (43%) females and 31 (57%) males. 50 cases were in the chronic persistent group, with an age range between 18 and 66 years, and a median of 45 years, including 33 (66%) females and 17 (34%) males. 54 cases were in normal control group aged between 18 and 64 years with a median of 37, which included 30 females (56%)
Summary
The determination of systemic inflammatory markers is one of the important directions to study the pathogenesis of asthma and improve the diagnosis of asthma. Symptoms fluctuate over time and can worsen and lead to respiratory failure during periods of exacerbation, which are often precipitated by viral upper respiratory tract infections or commonly by exposure to aeroallergens or air pollution. It affects more than 300 million people globally, including 26 million in the United States [5]. Diagnosis and treatment of asthma are often based on symptoms and lung function test results [7]. These may not be able to predict future exacerbation. Identifying new biomarkers that can enhance the detection rate in patients with asthma has been a hot research topic
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