%0 Journal Article
%T The elevation of serum napsin A in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, compared with KL-6, surfactant protein-A and surfactant protein-D
%A Takuya Samukawa
%A Tsutomu Hamada
%A Hirofumi Uto
%A Masakazu Yanagi
%A Go Tsukuya
%A Tsuyoshi Nosaki
%A Masahiro Maeda
%A Takashi Hirano
%A Hirohito Tsubouchi
%A Hiromasa Inoue
%J BMC Pulmonary Medicine
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2466-12-55
%X Serum levels of napsin A were measured in 20 patients with IPF, 34 patients with lung primary adenocarcinoma, 12 patients with kidney diseases, and 20 healthy volunteers. Surfactant protein (SP)-A, SP-D, and Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) levels in serum and pulmonary function tests were also evaluated in IPF patients.Circulating levels of napsin A were increased in patients with IPF, as compared with healthy controls, and they correlated with the severity of disease. Moreover, the serum napsin A levels were not elevated in patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma or renal dysfunction. The distinguishing point between IPF and the controls was that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of napsin A was larger than that of KL-6, SP-A, or SP-D.These findings suggest that serum napsin A may be a candidate biomarker for IPF.Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic, progressive, fibrotic interstitial lung disease (ILD) with a poor prognosis, is largely unaffected by currently available medical treatments [1]. IPF is associated with the histopathologic and/or radiologic pattern of a usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). It is characterized by progressive worsening of dyspnea and lung function. The incidence and mortality of IPF are increasing [1,2], and the median survival time is 2 to 3 years from the time of diagnosis [3]. Identification of peripheral blood biomarkers may facilitate the diagnosis, estimation of prognosis, and selection and evaluation of a treatment as well as the development of new therapeutic intervention. A number of candidate blood biomarkers for IPF including cytokines, chemokines, enzymes, collagen relevant products and products of type II epithelial cells, have been studied for their diagnostic and predictive values. Serum levels of mucin-like glycoprotein Krebs von den Lungen 6 antigen (KL-6) [4], surfactant protein (SP)-A and SP-D [5,6], matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)1 and MMP7 [7], brain natriuretic peptide [8], and, m
%K Biomarker
%K Idiopathic interstitial pneumonia
%K KL-6
%K Napsin A
%K SP-A
%K SP-D
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2466/12/55