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The relationship between inflammatory markers and disability in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Rachel Garrod1, Johanna Marshall, Elizabeth Barley
1School of Physiotherapy, St Georges Hospital, University of London, London, UK. garrod@hscs.sgul.ac.uk
Aims:
To examine relationships between markers of systemic inflammation and functional status in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Methods:
41 COPD patients were stratified using the Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnoea scale. Six-minute walking distance (6MWD), Quadriceps (% body weight) (QBW), St George's Hospital Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), London Chest Activity of Daily Living Scale (LCADL), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL6), tumour necrosis factor alpha, and neopterin were measured. Relationships between variables and differences in inflammatory markers between MRC categories were tested.
Results:
Inflammation increased with MRC grade and was significantly different across grades; CRP (p=0.002) and IL6 (p=0.04). Relationships were evident between CRP, 6MWD, LCADL and SGRQ, r=-0.47, 0.50, 0.43 (all p<0.01) respectively, and between IL6, QBW and LCADL, rho=-0.36, 0.51 (p<0.05).
Conclusions:
Measures of systemic inflammation, and in particular CRP, may prove to be useful markers in the assessment of COPD severity in primary care.
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