Role of chitinase like protein in chronic inflammatory airway diseases

伴随非嗜酸性气道炎的气道重塑的机制尚不清楚。几丁质酶样蛋白YKL-40又称AGE相关蛋白，由多种细胞产生，包括呼吸道上皮细胞、中性粒细胞和巨噬细胞。本研究表明YKL-40可促进培养的气道平滑肌细胞的增殖，并可能改变细胞外基质的比例。因此，YKL-40可能参与了老年哮喘或慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者的气道重塑的发病机制，在这些患者中，非嗜酸性气道炎症是主要的。

The mechanisms underlying airway remodeling accompanying with non-eosinophilic airway inflammation remain unclear. Chitinase-like protein, YKL-40 that is also known as age-related protein, is produced from various cells including airway epithelial cells, neutrophils, and macrophages. This study demonstrated that YKL-40 accelerates proliferation of cultured airway smooth muscle cells and may also alter the proportion of extracellular matrix. Thus YKL-40 may be involved in the pathogenesis of airway remodeling in elderly patients with asthma or COPD, where non-eosinophilic airway inflammation is predominant.