Extracellular matrix remodeling biomarkers in patients with hypersensitivity pneumonitis, compared with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and healthy controls

<bold>Purpose:</bold> To investigate the ability of extracellular matrix remodeling biomarkers to distinguish hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) from Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) or healthy controls. <bold>Methods:</bold> patients with a confident diagnosis of HP were included in a cohort (N=42). The aim of the cohort was to investigate a role for new and better biomarkers in the diagnostics of HP. The biomarkers investigated in this study were PRO-C3, PRO-C6, C3M, C6M, VICM, C4GzB and ELP-3. These biomarkers reflect turnover of collagen III and VI as well as cellular activity. After analysis, we compared the results of the biomarkers to a cohort of patients suffering from IPF (N=316). Afterwards a comparison was made with healthy controls (N=20). <bold>Results:</bold> the study showed that several of the biomarkers were significantly different in the PFBIO HP cohort, when compared to the two control groups. In particular, VICM and C6M seemed to be different in the cohort of HP patients and the IPF cohort indicating that there might be a role for new biomarkers in the field of diagnostics within ILDs. Furthermore, the differences between the HP patients and the healthy controls could indicate pathomechanisms of the disease. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> our results showed significant differences in the levels of several of the investigated biomarkers, when comparing HP to either IPF or healthy controls. <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA4258/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig>