(Chest. 2004;125:151S.)
© 2004
American College of Chest Physicians
Sputum Dysplasia, Related to Bacterial Load, Oxidative Stress, and Airway Inflammation in COPD*
Philip E. Silkoff, MD, FCCP;
Ashley Busacker, BS;
John Trudeau, BS;
Mary Jackson and
Wilbur Franklin, MD
* From the National Jewish Medical and Research Center (Dr. Silkoff, Ms. Busacker, and Mr. Trudeau), Denver, CO; and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (Dr. Franklin and Ms. Jackson), Denver CO.
Correspondence to: Philip E. Silkoff, MD, FCCP, The National Jewish Medical and Research Center, 1400 Jackson St, Denver, CO 80206; e-mail: silkoff{at}njc.org
 |
Introduction
|
|---|
Sputum dysplasia on light microscopy in subjects with COPD may be related to the degree of airway inflammation, oxidative stress, and bacterial colonization, all of which may lead to DNA damage.
|
Materials and Methods
|
|---|
We recruited subjects aged 
45 years with COPD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stage 2A) and a > 30 pack-year smoking history. Pooled home-collected sputum stored in Saccomanno preservative was mailed to the Department of Pathology. The presence of sputum dysplasia on light microscopy was graded by two independent readers. We examined airway inflammation (ie, induced-sputum inflammatory cells, exhaled nitric oxide, and sputum mediators), oxidative stress (ie, exhaled breath condensate hydrogen peroxide, and sputum 2-deoxy-8OH-guanosine), and bacterial load. Finally, lung volumes, spirometry, and the CO transfer coefficient were measured. Ten subjects with normal sputum were compared to 25 subjects with dysplasia for all outcomes.
|
Results
|
|---|
There were no significant differences (Table 1
) in lung function, markers of airway inflammation (including interleukin-8, leukotriene B4, leukotriene E4, prostaglandin E2, and 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid), and oxidative stress between subjects with and without dysplasia. There was, however, a significant reduction in the bacterial load of normal flora for subjects with dysplasia, who had a significantly increased incidence of Staphylococcus aureus (isolates, 6 vs 1, respectively) and Haemophilus influenzae (isolates, 5 vs 0, respectively).
|
Conclusion
|
|---|
The airway milieu in dysplasia is characterized by the replacement of normal flora by different organisms, but by no significant differences in markers of airway inflammation, oxidative stress, or lung function. The change in flora could be pathogenic for dysplasia or secondary to other factors that are operative in dysplasia.
|
Footnotes
|
|---|
This research was supported by the Colorado Tobacco Research Program grant No. IR 021.
TOP
Introduction
Materials and Methods
