Neutrophils, eosinophils and inflammatory cells contribute to asthmatic inflammation. The anti-bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI), produced by neutrophils, peripheral blood monocytes or epithelial cells, can neutralize lipopolysaccharide activity and enhance phagocytosis regulation function. This study aimed to assess the clinical significance of BPI in asthmatic patients. We recruited 18 controlled asthma, 39 uncontrolled asthma and 35 healthy controls individuals. Clinical characteristics (age, gender, allergy history, body mass index (BMI) and smoking history), clinical indicators [whole blood count, forced expiratory volume in one second as percentage of predicted volume (FEV1% predicted), IgE level, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and fractional expiratory nitric oxide (FeNO)] and serum BPI levels were measured to compare among each group. We then evaluated the correlation between BPI, clinical characteristics and clinical indicators. Finally, linear regression analysis was performed to exclude the influence of other factors and to find the independent influencing factors of BPI. Our results showed that the serum BPI levels increased by twofold in the controlled asthma group (12.83 ± 6.04 ng/mL) and threefold in the uncontrolled asthma group (18.10 ± 13.48 ng/mL), compared to the healthy control group (6.00 ± 2.58 ng/mL) (p < 0.001). We further found that serum BPI levels were positively correlated with the hs-CRP (p = 0.002). There was no significant association among BPI, age, gender, BMI, allergy, blood eosinophils, blood neutrophils, IgE, FeNO or FEV1% predicted. BPI levels were increased in asthma and positively correlated with hs-CRP. BPI as a potential asthma biomarker that still needs further research.

中文翻译：

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血清 BPI 作为哮喘的新型生物标志物。

中性粒细胞、嗜酸性粒细胞和炎症细胞会导致哮喘炎症。由中性粒细胞、外周血单核细胞或上皮细胞产生的抗菌/增透蛋白（BPI）可中和脂多糖活性，增强吞噬调节功能。本研究旨在评估 BPI 在哮喘患者中的临床意义。我们招募了 18 名哮喘控制者、39 名未控制哮喘者和 35 名健康对照者。临床特征（年龄、性别、过敏史、体重指数 (BMI) 和吸烟史）、临床指标 [全血细胞计数、一秒内用力呼气量占预测容积的百分比（预测 FEV1%）、IgE 水平、高敏 C 反应蛋白 (hs-CRP) 和呼气一氧化氮分数 (FeNO)] 和血清 BPI 水平测量并在各组之间进行比较。然后，我们评估了 BPI、临床特征和临床指标之间的相关性。最后进行线性回归分析，排除其他因素的影响，找出BPI的独立影响因素。我们的结果显示，与健康对照组（6.00 ± 2.58）相比，哮喘控制组的血清 BPI 水平增加了两倍（12.83 ± 6.04 ng/mL），哮喘未控制组增加了三倍（18.10 ± 13.48 ng/mL）。 ng/mL) (p < 0.001)。我们进一步发现血清 BPI 水平与 hs-CRP 呈正相关（p = 0.002）。BPI、年龄、性别、BMI、过敏、血嗜酸性粒细胞、血液中性粒细胞、IgE、FeNO 或 FEV1% 预测值。哮喘患者的 BPI 水平升高，并与 hs-CRP 呈正相关。BPI 作为一种潜在的哮喘生物标志物仍需进一步研究。