Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common among idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. Life expectancy is estimated around 3-5 years at diagnosis. No reliable prognostic biomarker has been approved for routinary clinical practice of IPF. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential prognostic value of serum CD59 in a cohort of IPF patients.
Methods: Fifty-seven patients (45 males, 66.1±10 years old) were recruited in Siena Regional Referral Center for Interstitial Lung Disease and underwent serum sampling for CD59 detection during diagnostic pathway. Clinical, functional, radiological and survival data were retrospectively collected. As control group for CD59 values, we recruited eight healthy volunteers (five males, 59.2±18 years old).
Results: CD59 levels were significantly higher in IPF patients in respect with healthy controls (P=0.0238). Patients with CD59 concentrations lower than 15 ng/mL reported a significant reduction of survival time (P=0.009); current or former smokers with CD59 <15 ng/mL showed the worst prognosis (P=0.014).
Conclusions: CD59 levels were significantly increased in IPF patients, supporting the existence of epithelial damage in the pathogenesis of disease. Lower values of CD59 were associated with a significantly worse prognosis, suggesting a potential role of CD59 in the prognostic estimation of IPF patients.