Chest
Original ResearchPulmonary HypertensionRole for Interleukin-6 in COPD-Related Pulmonary Hypertension
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
This study was approved by the review board of the Henri Mondor Teaching Hospital. All patients and control subjects signed an informed consent document before being included in the study.
Clinical Characteristics of the Study Population
Table 1 shows the characteristics of the 148 patients with COPD. Most patients were men, and the age range was 42 to 79 years. Current smokers made up 23% of the patient group; all the other patients were ex-smokers. Current smokers had less severe airway obstruction compared to ex-smokers (data not shown). Airflow limitation was moderate to severe. PH (mean PAP ≥ 25 mm Hg) was present in 58 patients (39%). The 57 patients with no available plasma samples for cytokine assays were not
Discussion
The results of the present study point to a role for inflammation, and more specifically for IL-6, in the pathogenesis of PH in patients with COPD. In patients with COPD, circulating IL-6 levels correlated with mean PAP. PAP was higher in patients who had the GG genotype of the G(−174)C IL-6 polymorphism than in patients who had the GC or CC genotype. Cultured human PA-SMCs constitutively expressed IL-6, and the expression level increased under hypoxia. Furthermore, the IL-6 and 5-HTT gene
Acknowledgments
Author contributions: Drs. Chaouat, Eddahibi, and Adnot conceived the study. Drs. Chaouat, Canuet, Brandt, and Weitzenblum performed the clinical work in Strasbourg. Drs. Savale, Chouaid, Sztrymf, Maitre, Housset, Le Corvoisier, and Adnot performed the clinical work in Créteil and Paris. Mr. Tu, and Drs. Eddahibi and Adnot carried out the laboratory investigations.
Financial/nonfinancial contributions: The authors have reported to the ACCP that no significant conflicts of interest exist with any
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Funding/Support: This study was supported by grants from the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Ministère de la Recherche, Institut des Maladies Rares (GIS), and Délégation à la Recherche Clinique de l'Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris. Financial support was received also from the European Commission under the sixth Framework Program (contract No. LSHM-CT-2005-018725, pulmotension).
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