Expression of Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) and its receptors (EGFR1 and EGFR2) in chronic bronchitis

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the industrialized and in the developing countries. It is believe, at least in part, that some of the structural changes that occur in COPD would be a result of epidermal growth factors (EGFs) and their receptors. Therefore, our study aims was to examine the expression patterns of EGF and their receptors (EGFR1 and c-erbB2) in the bronchial mucosa from the biopsy specimens harvested from smoking and non-smoking CB patients, compared with their expression in normal controls. The statistical analysis proved that for both EGF and EGFR1 reactivity were significant correlation with smoking status and FEV1% scores. Thus, we found that the highest levels of its expression were recorded in smoker CB patients with higher FEV1% scores. Regarding cellular localization and staining pattern, we noticed a cytoplasmic and nuclear immunostaining for EGF in bronchial epithelium both for control and CB subjects at the level of basal and ciliated cells. For the receptors, reactions were at the membrane level especially at the lower lateral junctions between ciliated cells and their junctions with basal cells. This reactivity proved the pathogenic implication of the EGF and their receptors in patients with CB and suggests that blockade of the EGFR pathway can be an alternative successful therapy.