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Elevated serum calprotectin (S100A8/A9) in patients with severe asthma
T Decaesteker1, S Bos2, N Lorent2
1Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery (BREATHE), Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing (CHROMETA), KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Summary
Serum calprotectin (SC) did not distinguish asthma phenotypes. However, higher SC levels in severe asthmatics suggest it may indicate disease severity, not specific inflammation types.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonology
- Immunology
- Biomarker Discovery
Background:
- Asthma is a complex respiratory condition with diverse inflammatory profiles.
- Neutrophilic asthma, a specific phenotype, shows limited response to corticosteroid treatments.
- Validated biomarkers are needed to identify non-eosinophilic asthma subtypes for targeted therapies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate serum calprotectin (SC) as a potential biomarker in asthma patients.
- To assess if SC can differentiate neutrophilic asthma from other inflammatory asthma phenotypes.
- To compare SC levels in asthmatics with those in patients with COPD, bronchiectasis, and healthy individuals.
Main Methods:
- Sputum induction and medical record analysis were performed on 117 severe asthmatics.
- Asthma phenotypes were categorized based on sputum eosinophil and neutrophil counts.
- Serum calprotectin levels were measured and compared across different patient groups and asthma subtypes.
Main Results:
- Asthmatics exhibited significantly higher SC levels compared to healthy controls.
- No significant differences in SC levels were observed between asthma phenotypes or compared to COPD patients.
- Elevated SC levels correlated with a lower FEV1/FVC ratio and a trend towards more frequent exacerbations in asthmatics.
Conclusions:
- Serum calprotectin does not appear to be a reliable biomarker for distinguishing specific asthma inflammatory subtypes.
- Elevated SC levels in severe asthmatics may indicate overall disease severity rather than a specific phenotype.
- Further large-scale studies are required to validate the potential of SC as a biomarker in severe asthma.
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