Clinical value of detecting vascular endothelial growth factor in sputum of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Objective To study the changes and clinical significance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in sputum of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).Methods The sputum VEGF levels of 52 cases with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with COPD during stable period (group A),60 cases with COPD during stable period (group B) and 50 normal persons (group C) were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)method.The pulmonary function,arterial blood gas analysis and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP)were detected.Results The sputum VEGF levels of group A,B and C were (4.30±0.93),(2.64±0.57)and ( 1.48±0.32 ) μ g/L respectively,which had significant difference ( F =31.612,P ＜ 0.01 ).The percentage of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) in predicted value (FEV1％) of group A,B and C were (48.68±10.53 )％,(67.56±14.61 )％,( 101.60±21.97 )％ respectively,which had significant difference (F =28.983,P ＜ 0.01 ),as well as PASP had [ (55.02±11.90),(23.50±5.08 ),(16.16±3.49) mm Hg (1 mm Hg =0.133 kPa),F=34.887,P＜ 0.01 ].The arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) and carbon dioxide(PaCO2) of three groups had no significant difference (F=2.159,3.167,P ＞ 0.05).The sputum VEGF level had significantly negative correlation with FEV1％ (r =-0.562,P ＜ 0.05),and positive correlation with PASP (r =0.783,P＜0.05),while had no correlation with PaO2,PaCO2 (r =-0.318,0.275,P＞0.05).Conclusions The sputum VEGF level of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with COPD expresses high level,which has significant correlation with pulmonary function and PASP.Therefore,VEGF plays an important role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with COPD. Key words: Pulmonary disease,chronic obstructive;  Hypertension,pulmonary;  Vascular endothelial growth factor A