Studying the correlation between transforming growth factor β1 and chitinase-3-like-1 in assessment of bronchial asthma severity

Background Chronic inflammation and airway remodeling have important roles in asthma pathophysiology. Transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and YKL-40 play a very important role in the pathogenesis of asthma. Aim The aim of this work was to find noninvasive biomarkers that may enable us to assess asthma severity as a surrogate for invasive bronchial mucosa biopsy. Therefore, we studied the correlation between TGF-β1 and YKL-40 and asthma severity. Patients and method The work was done on 40 patients with asthma who were classified into two groups: 20 patients with mild asthma and 20 patients with severe but stable asthma. A third group of 20 normal participants was taken as control. Immunoglobulin E total, YKL-40, and TGF-β1 were determined in serum of all studied groups. Results The results showed highly significant increased serum TGF-β1 and serum YKL-40 in patients with asthma compared with control group, and they were positively correlated with disease severity. Conclusion We conclude that increased serum levels of TGF-β1 and YKL-40 may be a biological characteristic of asthma exacerbation.