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. 2023 Nov 24;23(1):470.
doi: 10.1186/s12890-023-02772-2.

Increased expression of ficolin-1 is associated with airway obstruction in asthma

Pengfei Gao  1   2 , Kun Tang  3   4 , Yanjiao Lu  3 , Meijia Wang  3 , Wei Wang  5 , Tongsheng Wang  5 , Yuxia Sun  5 , Jianping Zhao  6 , Yimin Mao  7
Affiliations

Increased expression of ficolin-1 is associated with airway obstruction in asthma

Pengfei Gao et al. BMC Pulm Med. .

Abstract

Background: The activated complement cascade is involved in asthmatic airway inflammation. Ficolins are essential for innate immunity and can activate the complement lectin pathway. Despite this, the significance of ficolins in asthma has yet to be determined. This study aimed to explore the presence of ficolins in individuals with asthma and to determine the relationship between ficolins and clinical characteristics.

Methods: For the study, 68 asthmatic patients and 30 healthy control subjects were recruited. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine plasma ficolin-1, ficolin-2, and ficolin-3 concentrations both before and after inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy. Further, the associations of plasma ficolin-1 level with pulmonary function and asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) score were examined in the asthma patients.

Results: Patients with asthma exhibited significantly elevated plasma ficolin-1 levels (median, 493.9 ng/mL; IQR, 330.2-717.8 ng/mL) in comparison to healthy controls (median, 330.6 ng/mL; IQR, 233.8-371.1 ng/mL). After ICS treatment, plasma ficolin-1 (median, 518.1 ng/mL; IQR, 330.2-727.0 ng/mL) in asthmatic patients was significantly reduced (median, 374.7 ng/mL; IQR, 254.8-562.5 ng/mL). Additionally, ficolin-1 expressions in plasma were significantly correlated with pulmonary function parameters and ACQ score in asthmatic patients. Asthma patients with higher plasma ficolin-1 levels demonstrated poorer lung function than those with lower plasma ficolin-1 levels.

Conclusions: The results revealed that asthmatic patients had higher plasma ficolin-1 concentrations, which decreased after ICS treatment and were linked to their lung function, implying a potential involvement of ficolin-1 in asthma pathogenesis.

Keywords: Asthma; Asthma control questionnaire; Ficolins; Pulmonary function.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Plasma ficolin levels in healthy controls and asthmatic patients. Data are presented as median (interquartile range). Plasma ficolin-1 (A), ficolin-2 (B), and ficolin-3 (C) levels. HC Healthy control
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Plasma ficolin levels before and after ICS treatment for 4 weeks in asthmatic patients. Plasma ficolin-1 (A), ficolin-2 (B), and ficolin-3 (C) levels. ICS Inhaled corticosteroid
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Correlations between plasma ficolin-1 and pulmonary function in patients with asthma. Correlation between plasma ficolin-1 and FEV1 (A), FEV1% pred (B), FVC (C), FVC% pred (D), and FEV1/ FVC (E). FEV1  forced expired volume in 1 s, FVC Forced vital capacity
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Correlation between plasma ficolin-1 and ACQ in patients with asthma. ACQ Asthma control questionnaire
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Diagnostic value of plasma ficolin-1 for asthma. ROC curve for the sensitivity and specificity evaluation of plasma ficolin-1 to diagnose asthma. ROC  Receiver operating characteristic
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