The Tohoku journal of experimental medicine
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Tohoku J. Exp. Med. · Oct 2010
Elevated plasma and alveolar levels of soluble receptor for advanced glycation endproducts are associated with severity of lung dysfunction in ARDS patients.
Acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) are severe forms of bilateral lung inflammation with poor clinical outcomes. However, the pathophysiology of ALI/ARDS remains largely obscure. Soluble receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (sRAGE) plays a key regulatory role during the acute phase of inflammation, and baseline plasma levels of sRAGE were recently found to be associated with severity of ALI/ARDS. ⋯ Moreover, the presence of lung infection yielded higher alveolar sRAGE levels. In conclusion, we show that the plasma and alveolar levels of sRAGE in ALI/ARDS patients are correlated to lung injury severity and to lung infection. Our findings may, in time, lead to the development of more effective therapies against ALI/ARDS.