Changes of biomarkers in plasma of patients with occupational silicosis and their diagnostic value / 中国职业医学

ABSTRACT

{L-End}Objective To analyze the changes of seven potential biomarkers in plasma of patients with occupational silicosis (hereinafter referred to as "silicosis"), and explore their clinical value in determining the stage of silicosis. {L-End}Methods A total of 100 male silicosis patients were selected as the silicosis group (63 cases in stage Ⅰ and 37 cases in stage Ⅱ subgroups), and 100 male healthy individuals were selected as the control group using the 1∶1 matched case-control study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to analyze the level of interleukin-17 (IL-17), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and histone H4 in plasma. Their clinical value for diagnosing silicosis was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, discriminant analysis stepwise method, and Fisher discriminant function analysis. {L-End}Results The levels of IL-17, MCP-1, MMP-9, KL-6, CTGF, PDGF, and histone H4 in the plasma of the silicosis group, silicosis stage Ⅰ subgroups, and stage Ⅱ subgroups were higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). The levels of IL-17, MCP-1, and MMP-9 in the plasma of the stage Ⅱ subgroup decreased (all P<0.05), while the levels of KL-6, CTGF and histone H4 increased (all P<0.05) compared with the stage Ⅰ subgroup. The area under the ROC curve for diagnosing silicosis using these seven potential biomarkers ranged from 0.761 to 1.000 (all P<0.01), with the sensitivity of 0.640-1.000, the specificity of 0.840-0.990, and the Youden index of 0.540-0.990. The Fisher discriminant function was formed by stepwise discriminant analysis, and the results showed that the coincidence rate was 99.5%, and the misdiagnosis rate was 0.5% for diagnosing and staging silicosis with these seven potential biomarkers. The coincidence rate of diagnosing control group, silicosis stageⅠsubgroup and the silicosis stage Ⅱ subgroup was 100.0%, 98.4% and 100.0%, respectively. {L-End}Conclusion IL-17, MCP-1, MMP-9, KL-6, CTGF, PDGF and histone H4 in plasma can be used as biomarkers for the diagnosis of silicosis, and the Fisher discriminant function based on the combination of these seven biomarkers can assist in staging silicosis.