Researchers identify potential biomarkers for asthma linked to work exposure
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Researchers identified biomarkers linked to work-related asthma among exposures present at workplaces, including flour, isocyanate and welding fumes, according to data published in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Approximately 16% of all adult-onset asthma cases have been attributed to work exposures, according to Hille Suojalehto, MD, PhD, chief respiratory physician at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, and colleagues. These cases can include irritant-induced occupational asthma as well as work-exacerbated asthma.
To better understand these connections, Suojalehto and colleagues aimed to identify specific biomarkers for different exposure-related endotypes of work-related asthma by combining clinical and transcriptomic findings from the airway epithelium and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).
The study comprised 61 men exposed to flours (n = 15; median age, 33.5 years), isocyanates (n = 20; median age, 47.5 years) or welding fumes (n = 11; median age, 43.5 years), and 15 healthy control subjects (median age, 36.6 years). The researchers found no significant difference in age, smoking status or BMI among the study groups, and duration and frequency of work exposure also appeared comparable.
The number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was highest among patients exposed to welding fumes based on nasal biopsies (n = 664 and PBMCs (n = 1,544), compared with those in the flour-exposure group (nasal biopsies, n = 1; PBMC, n = 692) and the isocyanate-exposure group (nasal biopsies, n = 24; PBMC, n = 585).
Following additional analysis of disease mechanisms and gene-phenotype correlations, Suojalehto and colleagues then sought to identify endotype biomarkers that could facilitate an asthma diagnosis by identification of group-specific DEGs associated with clinical features.
Based on the genes associated with at least one clinical feature in the exposure groups, top enriched disease or functions included quantity of myeloid cells and cellular infiltration by leukocytes in the flour-exposure group, degranulation of immune cells in the isocyanate-exposure group and quantity of immune cells in the welding fumes-exposure group.
In conclusion, the researchers proposed the following five genes as biomarker panel candidates for each group: downregulation of MYOM2, CDK5R1, ZDBF2, VCPIP1 together with upregulation of ARPC5L for flour exposure; downregulation of TST, TMEM55A, SPHAR and DNAJA1 together with upregulation of ANO6 for isocyanate exposure; and downregulation of ITGA5 together with upregulation of HERC2P4, DHRS3, NUCB2 and DSC1 for welding fumes exposure.
“Elaborating on pathologic mechanisms and identifying disease-associated biomarkers in work-related asthma related to different exposures, have potential to improve diagnosis and facilitate the development of targeted treatment,” Suojalehto and colleagues wrote.