Gradual Increase of High Mobility Group Protein B1 in the Lungs after the Onset of Acute Exacerbation of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Figure 1
Inflammatory mediators in the BALF of IPF patients after acute exacerbation. (a) The concentrations of inflammatory mediators in the BALF of a 69-year-old male (an ex-smoker, Brickman index = 400) on days 1, 2, 13, and 21 after steroid therapy against acute exacerbation. He had been followed up without immunosuppressive therapy against IPF before administration to the hospital. No mechanical ventilator was used for treatment. He died 5 months later. (b) A 67-year-old female (a nonsmoker, no previous treatment for IPF) diagnosed with acute exacerbation 3 days after βflu-likeβ phenomena and died 3 months later. No mechanical ventilator was used for treatment. (c) The pooled data of the HMGB1 concentration in 16 BALF samples obtained from 7 patients showed a gradual increase of HMGB1 even after the steroid therapy for acute exacerbation (, ). (d) Among the 18 cytokines in the BALF samples examined, only MCP-1 was increased in positive correlation with HMGB1 (, ) after the steroid therapy for acute exacerbation.
