1. Galectin-10, a Potential Biomarker of Eosinophilic Airway Inflammation.
- Author
-
Chua, Justin C., Douglass, Jo A., Gillman, Andrew, O'Hehir, Robyn E., Meeusen, Els N., and Bandeira de Melo, Christianne
- Subjects
- *
ASTHMA , *DISEASE exacerbation , *BIOMARKERS , *INFLAMMATION , *EOSINOPHILS , *WESTERN immunoblotting - Abstract
Measurement of eosinophilic airway inflammation can assist in the diagnosis of allergic asthma and in the management of exacerbations, however its clinical implementation remains difficult. Galectin-10 has been associated with eosinophilic inflammation and has the potential to be used as a surrogate biomarker. This study aimed to assess the relationship between galectin-10 in sputum with sputum eosinophil counts, the current gold standard of eosinophil inflammation in the lung. Thirty-eight sputum samples were processed for both eosinophil counts by cytospins and semi-quantitative measurements of galectin-10 by western blots. A strong association was observed between galectin-10 levels in sputum and sputum eosinophil measurements, and they accurately determined sputum eosinophilia. The results support the potential for galectin-10 to be used as a surrogate biomarker of eosinophilic airway inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012
- Full Text
- View/download PDF