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Basement membrane and vascular remodelling in smokers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional study
Citation
Soltani, A and Reid, DW and Sohal, SS and Wood-Baker, R and Weston, S and Muller, HK and Walters, EH, Basement membrane and vascular remodelling in smokers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional study , Respiratory Research, 11, (105) EJ ISSN 1465-993X (2010) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
© 2010 Soltani et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Official URL: http://respiratory-research.com/
DOI: doi:10.1186/1465-9921-11-105
Abstract
Background: Little is known about airway remodelling in bronchial biopsies (BB) in smokers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We conducted an initial pilot study comparing BB from COPD patients with nonsmoking controls. This pilot study suggested the presence of reticular basement membrane (Rbm)
fragmentation and altered vessel distribution in COPD.
Methods: To determine whether Rbm fragmentation and altered vessel distribution in BB were specific for COPD we designed a cross-sectional study and stained BB from 19 current smokers and 14 ex-smokers with mild to moderate COPD and compared these to 15 current smokers with normal lung function and 17 healthy and nonsmoking subjects.
Results: Thickness of the Rbm was not significantly different between groups; although in COPD this parameter was quite variable. The Rbm showed fragmentation and splitting in both current smoking groups and ex-smoker
COPD compared with healthy nonsmokers (p < 0.02); smoking and COPD seemed to have additive effects. Rbm fragmentation correlated with smoking history in COPD but not with age. There were more vessels in the Rbm
and fewer vessels in the lamina propria in current smokers compared to healthy nonsmokers (p < 0.05). The number of vessels staining for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the Rbm was higher in both current smoker groups and ex-smoker COPD compared to healthy nonsmokers (p < 0.004). In current smoker COPD VEGF vessel staining correlated with FEV1% predicted (r = 0.61, p < 0.02).
Conclusions: Airway remodelling in smokers and mild to moderate COPD is associated with fragmentation of the Rbm and altered distribution of vessels in the airway wall. Rbm fragmentation was also present to as great an
extent in ex-smokers with COPD. These characteristics may have potential physiological consequences.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Biomedical and Clinical Sciences |
| Research Group: | Cardiovascular medicine and haematology |
| Research Field: | Respiratory diseases |
| Objective Division: | Health |
| Objective Group: | Clinical health |
| Objective Field: | Clinical health not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Soltani, A (Dr Amir Soltani Abhari) |
| UTAS Author: | Reid, DW (Dr David Reid) |
| UTAS Author: | Sohal, SS (Dr Sukhwinder Sohal) |
| UTAS Author: | Wood-Baker, R (Professor Richard Wood-Baker) |
| UTAS Author: | Weston, S (Mr Steven Weston) |
| UTAS Author: | Muller, HK (Professor Konrad Muller) |
| UTAS Author: | Walters, EH (Professor Haydn Walters) |
| ID Code: | 64863 |
| Year Published: | 2010 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 57 |
| Deposited By: | Menzies Institute for Medical Research |
| Deposited On: | 2010-09-08 |
| Last Modified: | 2011-04-29 |
| Downloads: | 370 View Download Statistics |
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