Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is considered a common type of lung disease characterized by airflow restriction and serious long-term breathing problems. The maintainable decrease in the expiratory pressure flow is the main feature and inflammation plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of COPD. C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute-phase protein mainly produced in the liver in response to tissue damage and inflammation. CRP reflects the overall burden of inflammation in the body of patients with COPD in exacerbation and stable conditions. CRP is also a predictor for hospitalization and mortality in chronic respiratory failure. It is assumed that high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) is increased in patients with COPD and there is a relationship between plasma CRP level and the severity of COPD and quality of life. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the serum level of hs-CRP and assess its correlation with lung function parameters in patients with COPD. Materials and Methods: We included patients who had dyspnea, chronic cough, sputum production and risk factors, such as tobacco use and occupational exposures to dust and chemicals with all degree of airflow severity were consecutively included if they had a post bronchodilator FEV1/FVC of <0.7 after 400 micrograms of inhaled salbutamol and they were clinically stable (no exacerbation for 2 months) at the time of evaluation. Results: The maximum numbers of COPD patients in this study were in the age group of 50-59 years with mean age 52.54 ± 9.55 years. Majority of the patients (30/50) had a history of tobacco use of at least 11-29 pack-years, with a mean of 19.23 years. Almost all the patients had breathlessness and cough with sputum on presentation and had tachypnoea (70%) on presentation. Most of them had Barrel shaped chest (58%), parasternal heave (30%) and Loud P2 (34%). In the present study, 52% (26/50) of the patients had FEV1 50-79% of the predicted i.e., Moderate obstructive disease. In the present study, Correlation of hs-CRP levels was highly significant with mMRC scale, FEV1 and BODE index system, while no statistical co-relation was found with BMI and 6MWD. Conclusion: It was found that hsCRP combined with multidimensional BODE index appears to be an important, accurate biomarker for predicting disease severity in patients with stable COPD. In this setting, hsCRP is significantly correlated with the maximum components of BODE index as well as BODE index alone. Thus hsCRP can be considered as a significant prognostic marker in stable COPD patients

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