Abstract
BackgroundAngiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) is an essential mediator of angiogenesis that establishes vascular integrity, and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) acts as its natural inhibitor. We considered that angiopoietin might be important in bronchial asthma.MethodsIn total, 35 patients with asthma and 20 healthy subjects were studied.ResultsThe serum Ang-1 levels were significantly elevated in patients with asthma compared to control subjects (293.9 ± 13.8 pg/mL vs. 248.3 ± 16.2 pg/mL, respectively, p = 0.04). The serum Ang-2 levels were not different between the two groups. The areas under the curve (AUC) for serum angiopoietins revealed that the serum level of Ang-1 (0.68) was more sensitive and specific than the serum Ang-2 level (0.55) for differentiating between patients with asthma and control subjects. The serum Ang-1/Ang-2 ratio was correlated with the FEV1/FVC ratio (r = -0.312, p = 0.02), while serum Ang-2 was correlated with body mass index.ConclusionsOur results indicate that the serum Ang-1 levels were higher in asthma patients compared with healthy subjects. As the Ang-1/Ang-2 ratio was related to lung function, the data suggest that serum angiopoietin is associated with lung function in patients with asthma.
Highlights
Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) is an essential mediator of angiogenesis that establishes vascular integrity, and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) acts as its natural inhibitor
The areas under the curve (AUC) for serum angiopoietins indicated that the serum Ang-1 levels (0.68) were more sensitive and specific than the serum Ang-2 levels (0.55) for differentiating patients with asthma from control subjects (Figure 2)
The serum Ang-1/Ang-2 ratio was correlated with the FEV1/ FVC ratio
Summary
Angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) is an essential mediator of angiogenesis that establishes vascular integrity, and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) acts as its natural inhibitor. We considered that angiopoietin might be important in bronchial asthma. Increased angiogenesis is a well-documented feature of airway remodeling in asthma [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Airway remodeling [2] in asthmatic patients involves a wide array of pathophysiological features, including epithelial changes, increased smooth muscle mass, increased numbers of activated fibroblasts/ myofibroblasts, subepithelial fibrosis, angiogenesis, alterations in extracellular matrix components, and vascular changes. We examined the serum levels of angiopoietins in patients with asthma and investigated the possible associations with physiological variables
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