The clinical significance of C-reactive protein levels in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Objective To study the significance of changes in the blood C-reactive protein(CRP)concentration in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)at different stages and different classification and further analyze the relationship between the degree of impairment of pulmonary function and CRP concentrations.Methods Fouty-two cases of COPD patients were enrolled,forced expiratory volume in one second(FEV1),the forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity(FEV1/FVC),a second rate were tested in these patients at admission and discharged from hospital after recovery.Arterial blood gas including PaO2,PaCO2 were analyzed.The CRP level was measured by ELISA from venous blood collected in the early morning.At the same time,10 healthy people were selected as control group.Results The CRP level in COPD group was significantly higher than that of the control group(P ＜ 0.05).It displayed highest in the Ⅳ grade of COPD patients,but there was no statistically significant differences among the levels(P ＞ 0.05).The CRP level in COPD patients at acute exacerbations was significantly higher than that in COPD patients at remission and differences was statistically significant([6.283 ± 3.168]mg/L vs[4.104 ± 1.013]mg/L,P ＜0.05).The changes of serum CRP levels was correlated negatively with FEV1(r =-0.618,P ＜ 0.05),with FEV1/FVC(r =-0.629,P ＜ 0.05)and with PaO2(r =-0.605,P ＜ 0.05).The changes of serum CRP levels was correlated positively with PaCO2(r =0.613,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion The increase of CRP level may be associated with the damage of lung function and the degree of dyspnea in COPD patients.But CRP as a independent predictor of COPD outcomes and prognosis remains to be further studied. Key words: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; C-reactive protein; Lung function