Peripheral blood biomarkers in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis / 中华检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a specific form of chronic, progressive, fibrosing interstitial pneumonia of unknown etiology , a median survival time of which is 2 to 3 years.The diagnosis and treatment are important for IPF in time.Krebs von den lungen-6(KL-6), Surfactant protein-A(SP-A) and Surfactant protein-D(SP-D) are acceptable biomarkers in clinical for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Japan,which have shown good sensitivity at diagnosis IPF and predict the prognoses for patients with IPF . However , the differential diagnosis of IPF from other interstitial lung diseases is still challenging .Other biomarkers are being developed , one of which would have the best specificity and sensitivity at diagnosis IPF.Those biomarkers about pathogenesis of IPF includes alveolar epithelial cell dysfunction , fibrogenesis and immune dysregulation are shown .They are potential to account for underlying disease mechanisms , accelerated drug development and advance clinical management.