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Review
. 2012 Sep;18(5):441-6.
doi: 10.1097/MCP.0b013e328356d03c.

Biomarkers in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Yingze Zhang  1 , Naftali Kaminski
Affiliations
Review

Biomarkers in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Yingze Zhang et al. Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2012 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose of review: This review examines the recent literature on molecular biomarkers of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Specific attention is dedicated to the recent studies that identified the genes associated with IPF and the peripheral blood biomarkers that predict outcome in IPF.

Recent findings: Multiple studies attempted to identify diagnostic and predictive biomarkers in IPF. Until recently, these studies were limited in size and lacked replication, but still when taken together provided convincing evidence that changes in blood proteins (KL-6, SP-A, MMP-7, CCL-18, among others) or cells (fibrocytes and T-cell subpopulations) are indicative of the disease presence and outcome. More recently, larger studies have identified gene polymorphisms associated with IPF, as well as protein markers and integrated clinical and molecular prediction rules that accurately predict outcome in patients with IPF.

Summary: The peripheral blood contains disease presence and outcome relevant information, and suggests distinct biologically defined outcome trajectories in patients with IPF. Although recently identified biomarkers should still be validated in multiple clinical contexts, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that collection of peripheral blood biomarkers needs to be incorporated in the design of drug studies and that some of these markers be clinically evaluated in lung transplant prioritization.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

N.K. is an inventor on a patent application on the use of peripheral blood proteins to diagnose and predict outcome in IPF, as well as on the use of microRNAs in the management of IPF. N.K. is a consultant to Stromedix and Sanofti-Aventis, has industry sponsored grants from Gilead and Celgene, as well as multiple industry collaborations.

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