Advs Exp. Medicine, Biology - Neuroscience and Respiration (2016) 27: 1–
DOI 10.1007/55842016
#Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017
Published online: 12 July 2016
Osteoprotegerin/sRANKL Signaling
System in Pulmonary Sarcoidosis:
A Bronchoalveolar Lavage StudyW. Naumnik, B. Naumnik, W. Niklin ́ska, M. Ossolin ́ska,
and E. ChyczewskaAbstract
Osteoprotegerin (OPG), a soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor family
molecule, protects endothelial cells from apoptosisin vitroand promotes
neovascularizationin vivo. Angiogenesis may be crucial for the course
and outcome of sarcoidosis. In this study, we evaluated the clinical
usefulness of OPG and its ligand, a soluble receptor activator of nuclear
factor-kappaB (sRANKL), in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in
patients with sarcoidosis (BBS, Besniera-Boeck-Schaumann disease).
We studied 22 BBS patients and 15 healthy volunteers as a control
group. The levels of OPG, sRANKL, and interleukin-18 (IL-18) were
measured by the Elisa method. The BALF levels of sRANKL and IL-
were higher in the BBS patients compared with controls [sRANKL: 2.
(0.82–10.23) vs. 1.12 (0.79–4.39) pmol/l, p¼0.03; IL-18: 34.
(12.50–133.70)vs.13.05 (12.43–25.88) pg/ml, p¼0.001]. There were
no significant differences between the concentration of OPG in the BBS
patients and healthy controls [0.22 (0.14–0.81)vs.0.23 (0.14–0.75) pmol/
l]. In the BBS patients we found correlations between sRANKL and IL-
in BALF (r¼0.742, p¼0.0001) and between OPG and lung diffusing
capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) (r¼0.528, p¼0.029).
Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to find the
cut-off for the BALF level of sRANKL (BBS vs.healthy: 1.32 pmol/l).W. Naumnik (*)
First Department of Lung Diseases, Medical University of
Bialystok, 14 Zurawia St, 15-540 Bialystok, Poland
Department of Clinical Molecular Biology, Medical
University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
e-mail:[email protected]
B. Naumnik
First Department of Nephrology and Transplantation with
Dialysis Unit, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok,
Poland
W. Niklin ́ska
Department of Histology and Embryology, Medical
University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
M. Ossolin ́ska and E. Chyczewska
First Department of Lung Diseases, Medical University of
Bialystok, 14 Zurawia St, 15-540 Bialystok, Poland1