Clinical Application of Serum Levels of Glycoprotein in Bronchial Asthmatic Patients

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways associated with marked activation of the immune system, leading to increased production of various biochemical mediators. The serum glycoproteins are involved in various inflammatory disorders. Therefore the aim of present study is to investigate the significance of glycoproteins in asthma, serum levels of protein bound hexose, hexosamine, and fucose were measured by spectrophotometric methods in 20 healthy subjects, 20 asthmatic patients not undergoing therapy and 30 asthmatic patients undergoing therapy. Serum glycoprotein levels in the asthmatic patients not undergoing therapy were significantly higher than those in the healthy subjects and those in the asthmatic patients undergoing therapy (p<0.01 and p<0.01, respectively). Serum glycoprotein levels in the asthmatic patients were significantly different from those patients under treatment. The possibility that a factor release in to serum from injured or necrotic tissue during inflammation might be responsible for stimulation of glycoprotein synthesis. The study suggested that the glycoproteins evaluated may be useful in diagnosis and treatment monitoring of asthmatic patients.