Level of Adiponectin in Induced Sputum and Its Relationship with Interleukin-17 in Patients with COPD

Objective:To determine the adiponectin(APN) and interleukin-17(IL-17) in induced sputum of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) both during acute exacerbation and stable stage and analyze their relationship.Methods: The male COPD patients of normal weight were selected,including 30 cases of COPD patients with acute exacerbation(AECOPD) in the emergency department and 30 cases of COPD patients with stable stage in respiratory disease department.Thirty healthy male volunteers were enrolled as controls.The induced sputum was collected for all subjects.The total number of cell in induced sputum was counted and the type of cell was classified.The correlation between APN and IL-17,neutrophils were analyzed.Results: The concentrations of APN and IL-17 in patients with AECOPD were significantly higher than those in patients with stable COPD and in the contro1 subjects(P0.001).The concentrations of APN and IL-17 in patients with stable COPD were significantly higher than those in the control subjects(P0.01).APN and IL-17 was positively correlated in patients with COPD both during acute exacerbation(r= 0.644,P0.001) and stable stage(r= 0.631,P0.001).APN and neutrophils in induced sputum was positively correlated in patients with AECOPD(r= 0.760,P0.001).Conclusions: The level of adiponectin in induced sputum in COPD patients is elevated,which is related with IL-17.Adiponectin may be involved in the process of inflammation in COPD as a new pro-inflammatory cytokine.