Elevated serum osteopontin level is associated with blood eosinophilia and asthma comorbidity in patients with allergic rhinitis

摘要

Osteopontin (OPN) is an extracellular matrix protein with a wide range of functions on tissue fibrosis, tumor progression, as well as immune regulation. OPN is upregulated in a wide variety of human inflammatory diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, autoimmune uveitis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, and allergic diseases.2 Emerging evidence supports an active role for OPN in TH2-linked inflammation in the pathogenesis of asthma. For example, increased levels of OPN have been found in the bronchial epithelial cells and macro-phages of patients with asthma.3 OPN is also expressed and functional in the peripheral blood eosinophil (EOS) of atopic human subjects and is involved in the in vitro migration of EOS isolated from asthmatic patients.4 Moreover, increased levels of OPN have been demonstrated in the nasal mucosa of patients with AR in our previous study.5 Therefore, it is of great interest to investigate whether increased OPN level in patients with AR is related to asthma comorbidity in the context of a unified airway.