Serum Levels of KL-6 Reflect Disease Activity of Interstitial Pneumonia Associated with ANCA-related Vasculitis

• Published in: Internal Medicine Vol. 40; no. 11; pp. 1093 - 1097
• Main Authors: IWATA, Yasunori, WADA, Takashi, FURUICHI, Kengo, KITAGAWA, Kiyoki, KOKUBO, Satoshi, KOBAYASHI, Motoo, SAKAI, Norihiko, YOSHIMOTO, Keiichi, SHIMIZU, Miho, KOBAYASHI, Ken-ichi, YOKOYAMA, Hitoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine 2001; Japanese Society of Internal Medicine
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic - blood; Antigens; Antigens, Neoplasm; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - blood; Female; Glycoproteins; Humans; interstitial lung disease; Lung Diseases, Interstitial - blood; Lung Diseases, Interstitial - complications; Male; marker; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mucin-1; Mucins; Peroxidase - immunology; Pneumology; Predictive Value of Tests; Respiratory system : syndromes and miscellaneous diseases; Severity of Illness Index; vascular disease; Vasculitis - blood; Vasculitis - complications; Vasculitis - immunology; Human; Lung disease; Association; Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody; Respiratory disease; Biological marker; Interstitial pneumonitis; Serum; Diagnosis; Quantitative analysis; Result
• ISSN: 0918-2918; 1349-7235
• DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.40.1093

Objective KL-6 is reported to be excreted from the lung alveolar and bronchial epithelial cells and may be a good marker for monitoring disease activity of interstitial pneumonia. This study was designed to ascertain the clinical significance of serum KL-6 levels in interstitial pneumonia associated with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-related vasculitis. Methods Serum KL-6 levels were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Patients We examined 20 healthy subjects, 13 patients with perinuclear (myeloperoxidase, MPO) ANCA-related vasculitis and 12 dermatomyositis (DM)/polymyositis (PM) patients as disease controls in this study. Six out of 13 patients with ANCA-related vasculitis had interstitial pneumonia. Results Serum levels of KL-6 in ANCA-positive patients with interstitial pneumonia were significantly elevated, while they remained as low as those of healthy subjects in ANCA- positive patients without interstitial pneumonia. Similarly, KL-6 levels in sera were higher in 12 dermatomyositis/polymyositis patients with interstitial pneumonia, while they remained low in DM/PM patients without interstitial pneumonia. Moreover, the elevated serum KL-6 level was reduced during the convalescence induced by glucocorticoid therapy and reflected the disease activity of interstitial pneumonia associated with ANCA-related vasculitis. Conclusion These data suggest that the measurement of serum KL-6 levels may be a good monitoring system for the diagnosis and follow-up of interstitial pneumonia of patients with ANCA-related vasculitis. (Internal Medicine 40:1093-1097, 2001)