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Serum CA-125 level in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with and without pulmonary hypertension
Insights
This study found that elevated CA-125 levels can help identify pulmonary hypertension (PH) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. This biomarker offers a cost-effective diagnostic alternative where echocardiography is limited.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Biomarker Research
- Cardiology
Background:
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of death, and pulmonary hypertension (PH) significantly worsens its prognosis.
- Early PH diagnosis in COPD is crucial for effective treatment, but current methods like echocardiography are resource-intensive.
- CA-125, a known ovarian cancer biomarker, has shown associations with cardiac dysfunction, suggesting potential utility in other conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between CA-125 levels and the presence of PH in patients with stable COPD.
- To evaluate CA-125 as a potential non-invasive biomarker for PH screening in COPD.
Main Methods:
- Ninety patients with stable COPD were enrolled.
- Serum CA-125 levels were measured from venous blood samples.
- Systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) was assessed using transthoracic echocardiography on the same day.
Main Results:
- 57 out of 90 COPD patients exhibited PH.
- Patients with PH demonstrated significantly higher mean CA-125 levels (39.15 U/mL) compared to those without PH (24.22 U/mL).
- CA-125 levels showed a statistically significant correlation with sPAP (r=0.17, P=0.01).
Conclusions:
- CA-125 serves as a viable biomarker for identifying pulmonary hypertension in COPD patients.
- Its affordability and ease of measurement make it a valuable tool for PH screening, particularly in resource-limited settings lacking advanced echocardiography.
- This finding supports the potential use of CA-125 in early PH detection among COPD populations.
Background:
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive and debilitating disease and is going to be the 3rd most common cause of death worldwide. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) has severely bad influence on prognosis in COPD patients. Hence, early diagnosis of it is important for appropriate therapy. Echocardiography is used for this purpose, which requires cardiologist and expensive equipment which may not be available anywhere. CA-125, a biomarker of ovarian cancer, has shown to be associated with left ventricular failure. We aimed to show the relationship between CA-125 levels and PH in patients with COPD.
Methods:
Ninety patients with stable COPD were enrolled into the study. Levels of CA-725 were measured from venous blood, and in the same day systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) was measured by transthoracic echocardiography.
Results:
Of 90 Patients 57 had PH and 39 had not. Patients with PH had significantly higher CA- 125 levels compared with controls (mean 39.15 U/ mL vs. 24.22 U/mL, P < 0.04). Levels of CA-125 were correlated with sPAP (r=017, P=0.01).
Conclusions:
The CA-125 biomarker can be used to identify COPD patients with pulmonary hypertension. Since it is cheap and easily available it can help in centers with less access to echocardiography.
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