Objective: To study roles of Clara cell protein 16 (CC16) and surfactant protein-D (SP-D) as serum biomarkers in the early diagnosis and the pathogenesis of silicosis.
Methods: Thirty healthy volunteers, 30 silica-exposed workers, and 30 workers with suspected silicosis and phase I silicosis were included. Serum CC16 and SP-D concentrations were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: Serum CC16 concentrations decreased in silica-exposed workers when compared with in controls, but serum SP-D levels increased, and this trend was obvious in phase 0 and I groups. Discriminant analysis showed that the accuracies of classifying group membership into control, phase 0, phase 0, and phase I were 86.7%, 46.7%, 66.7%, and 70%, respectively, and the total classification accuracy rate was 67.5%.
Conclusion: Serum CC16 and SP-D may be useful biomarkers for early diagnosis, and serum SP-D concentration may associate with the pathogenesis of silicosis.