VEGF serum concentration and irreversible bronchoconstriction in adult asthmatics.

BACKGROUND: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic, heparin-binding glycoprotein playing an important role in the pathogenesis of many diseases and disorders, including asthma. It has been reported that increased VEGF serum concentration is a biomarker of neovascularization, which could suggest that higher VEGF expression may be relevant to asthmatics with airway remodeling and irreversible bronchoconstriction.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the possible association between VEGF serum concentration and irreversible bronchoconstriction in adult patients with a diagnosis of asthma.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study involved 82 adult patients with asthma (42 persons with and 40 persons without irreversible bronchoconstriction) and 40 healthy adult controls. Vascular endothelial growth factor serum concentration was analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS: Vascular endothelial growth factor serum concentration in patients with asthma was higher than in healthy controls (p = 0.0131), particularly in those from the subgroup of irreversible bronchoconstriction (p = 0.0133). The rising tendency was confirmed using the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test that showed a significant difference (p = 0.0374) in VEGF values among the 3 groups examined: healthy controls (Me = 246.6 pg/mL), asthmatics with reversible bronchoconstriction (Me = 288.6 pg/mL) and asthmatics with irreversible bronchoconstriction (Me = 340.6 pg/mL). However, the direct comparison between the 2 asthmatics groups (reversible vs irreversible bronchoconstriction) did not show a statistically significant difference (p = 0.5521).

CONCLUSIONS: Increased VEGF serum concentration is characteristic of patients with asthma, especially those with irreversible bronchoconstriction.