Prognostic significance of peripheral blood S100A12, S100A8, S100A9 concentrations in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Abstract

Background S100A12, S100A8, and S100A9 are considered to be biomarkers of inflammatory diseases; however, their roles in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) remain unclear. In this study, the levels of S100A12, S100A8, and S100A9 in the serum of patients with IPF were analyzed to evaluate the significance of these three factors in the development and prognosis of IPF. Methods Differentially expressed genes were screened using the GEO2R tool. Serum S100A12 and S100A8/9 protein levels were assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Pearson’s correlation coefficient, Kaplan–Meier analysis, Cox regression analysis, and functional enrichment analysis were used to evaluate the relationship between these protein levels and clinical parameters or prognosis. Results The most important genes co-expressed with S100A12 were S100A8 and S100A9. Serum S100A12, S100A8, and S100A9 concentrations in patients with IPF were significantly higher than those in age-matched healthy controls. The prognosis of patients with IPF with higher serum S100A12, S100A8, and S100A9 concentrations was significantly worse than that of those with lower serum concentrations. Conclusions Serum S100A12, S100A8, and S100A9 are promising circulating biomarkers that may provide potentially valuable clinical aid for the prognosis of patients with IPF. However, further multicenter clinical trials with larger sample sizes are needed in the future to confirm their clinical application value.