Studies On The Clinical Significance Of The Change Of Serum Levels Of TGF-β₁,IL-10,IL-13 In Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Objective: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive and usually fatal lung disease characterized by alveolar epithelial injury, fibroblast proliferation and exuberant extracellular matrix remodeling, which result in irreversible distortion of the lung's architecture. Usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) is the histopathological pattern. The pathogenetic mechanisms remain to be determined. Prognosis is poor and it is reported that median survival is less than three years. Recently, studies have revealed that various cytokines could be important in the pathogenesis of this disorder. The present study aims to determine the change of serum levels of cytokines, such as TGF-β₁, IL-10 and IL-13 in patients with IPF before and after treatment for 3 months and explore the relationship between such change and IPF. It is hope to provide ideas for monitoring the change of disease state, evaluating the effect of treatment and target therapy of IPF via antifibrosis.Method: The case group involved twenty patients with IPF who were selected in out-patient clinic in the second hospital of Hebei Medical University from August, 2004 to May, 2005. Among the 20 patients, 11 were male and 9 were female. The...