A recent study entitled “Evaluation of serum interleukin-1 beta as an inflammatory marker in COPD patients” was published in the Egyptian Journal of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis by Dr. Dina R. Hammad from the Department of Chest Diseases at Benha University in Egypt, along with colleagues. The researchers found that IL-1β, an inflammatory mediator, was associated with clinical features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) severity, suggesting that IL-1β may have a crucial role in COPD.
The severity and exacerbation of COPD can be addressed by measuring the increased levels of circulating cytokines, chemokines and acute phase proteins, or alterations in the circulating cells and markers. Recently, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) has been shown to be increased in the serum of individuals with COPD when compared to healthy controls.
The research team assessed the level of serum IL-1β in 60 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with an average age of 59 years during acute exacerbation and in stable condition, and compared the findings with 20 healthy individuals. In addition, they determined if the alterations in IL-1β levels were associated with modifications in respiratory functions.
The authors found a highly statistically significant difference in serum IL-1B (pg/ml) between the groups, which indicates that IL-1β has an important role in systemic inflammatory processes and severity of COPD cases. Moreover, there was an association between serum IL-1B concentration (pg/ml) and severity of COPD cases, i.e. a significant increase in (IL-1Beta) level with increasing severity of COPD.
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Overall, IL-1β was associated with clinical features of disease severity, suggesting that IL-1β seems to have a pivotal role in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The modulation of various inflammatory mediators, in particular IL-1β, may help improve the clinical outcome of COPD and offer therapeutic implications. Notably, serum IL-1β levels may be used as a biomarker in differentiating COPD from other respiratory disorders such as asthma.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a term used to designate a group of lung diseases like chronic bronchitis, emphysema and chronic obstructive airways disease. COPD is a common preventable and treatable respiratory condition, but is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. COPD is a chronic disease of the lungs characterized by increased airflow obstruction. Low levels of systemic inflammation are considered an important feature of COPD.