Association between serum CCL-18 and IL-23 concentrations and disease progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

This study aimed to investigate the association between serum concentrations of chemokine (C–C Motif) ligand 18 (CCL-18) and interleukin 23 (IL-23) and clinical parameters of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The serum concentrations of CCL-18 and IL-23 were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The association between their concentrations and clinical parameters of COPD patients were analyzed by linear regression, logistic regression and ROC curve. The results showed that the serum concentrations of CCL-18 and IL-23 in COPD patients were increased compared with healthy people (P < 0.001) and that patients with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) had higher serum CCL-18 and IL-23 concentrations than stable patients (P < 0.001). Synergistic increase of CCL-18 and IL-23 in COPD patients was positively correlated with COPD patients' higher GOLD grade (P < 0.001), higher mMRC score (P < 0.001) and longer medical history (P < 0.001), but negatively correlated with the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) (P < 0.001) and FEV1% predicted (P < 0.001). The serum concentrations of CCL-18 and IL-23 were most related to the GOLD grade (OR = 2.764 for CCL-18 and OR = 4.215 for IL-23) and detection of both showed considerable sensitivity (72.57% for CCL-18 and 76.92% for IL-23) and specificity (92.50% for CCL-18 and 77.5% for IL-23) in identifying COPD. Increased serum concentrations of CCL-18 and IL-23 correlated with the disease progression of COPD and they could be used as biomarkers for disease evaluation of COPD.