| Objective: To investigate LL-37 level in bronchiectasis patients;to study the relationship between LL-37 level and the severity of bronchiectasis.Method: We enrolled 80 patients with bronchiectasis and 15 health controls in Shanghai Pulmonary hospital from May,2016 to December 2016.The serum and BALF samples were collected and the LL-37 concentrations were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method.Meanwhile,the basic characteristics of patients,chest CT findings,microorganisms and lung functions data were also collected.The relationship between LL-37 level and the severity of bronchiectasis were analyzed by SPSS software 22.0 version.Result: There were no statistically significant differences in serum LL-37 levels between bronchiectasis patients and health controls.LL-37 levels were significantly higher in BALF samples of bronchiectasis patients compared with health controls.Expressions of LL-37 were elevated in P.A patients compared with those in non-P.A patients.BALF LL-37 levels in bronchiectasis patients showed significant correlations with LCQ score,sputum score and FEV1%,expression of LL-37 was also elevated in patients with higher Reiff score,FACED score and BSI score.The AUC for predicting specificity of BALF LL-37 levels was 0.726 for FACED and 0.729 for BSI in bronchiectasis patients.Conclusion: In bronchiectasis patients,increased LL-37 levels in BALF were associated with the severity of bronchiectasis,suggesting that LL-37 may play roles in pathogenesis of bronchiectasis,and could potentially be a novel therapeutic target in bronchiectasis. |
