Characteristics related to biomarkers of neutrophil, eosinophil, and mast cell activation

Systemic inflammation is important in many medical conditions. Activation markers of inflammatory cells can be quantified, but are less studied. Therefore, we studied individual characteristics and diseases in relation to neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and myeloperoxidase (MPO), both for neutrophils, eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN), eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), and mast cell tryptase. Spirometry and serum biomarkers were assessed in 498 participants (252 males) aged ≥ 40 years from the Uppsala center of the population-based Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Higher MPO, NGAL and EDN levels related to heart disease. Higher ECP and EDN levels were both related to asthma while higher EDN related to male sex and atopy. Higher tryptase levels were found in subjects with obesity, chronic airflow limitation (CAL), or hypertension. In multivariate analyses, subjects with heart disease had 22.1% (95% confidence interval 4.1%, 43.3%) higher MPO, 19.3% (7.8%, 31.9%) higher NGAL, and 23.2% (3.0%, 47.3%) higher EDN than subjects without heart disease. The association between CAL and tryptase was not consistent after adjustment for age and BMI as continuous variables. The higher EDN levels in heart disease is a novel finding that require further studies to elucidate the clinical importance.