Significance of Serum Eosinophil Cationic Protein and High-Sensitivity C-reactive Protein Levels in Patients with Allergic and Non-Allergic Inflammatory Diseases

Woo Ri Jang; Jong Weon Choi; Chung Hyun Nahm; Yeon Sook Moon; Jin Ju Kim; Jeong Hee Kim; Dae Hyun Lim

doi:10.3343/lmo.2012.2.1.4

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Jang, Choi, Nahm, Moon, Kim, Kim, and Lim: Significance of Serum Eosinophil Cationic Protein and High-Sensitivity C-reactive Protein Levels in Patients with Allergic and Non-Allergic Inflammatory Diseases

Original Article

Clinical Chemistry

Laboratory Medicine Online

Laboratory Medicine Online 2012; 2(1): 20-27.

Published online: 1 January 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3343/lmo.2012.2.1.4

Significance of Serum Eosinophil Cationic Protein and High-Sensitivity C-reactive Protein Levels in Patients with Allergic and Non-Allergic Inflammatory Diseases

Woo Ri Jang, M.D.¹, Jong Weon Choi, M.D.¹, Chung Hyun Nahm, M.D.¹, Yeon Sook Moon, M.D.¹, Jin Ju Kim, M.D.¹, Jeong Hee Kim, M.D.², Dae Hyun Lim, M.D.²

¹Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.

²Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.

Corresponding author: Jong Weon Choi, M.D. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Inha University College of Medicine, 7-206 Shinheung-dong, Jung-gu, Incheon 400-711, Korea. TEL: +82-32-890-2503, FAX: +82-32-890-2529, jwchoi@inha.ac.kr

Received 2 May 2011 Revised 21 September 2011 Accepted 29 September 2011

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Background

This study was conducted to evaluate the significance of serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in children with allergic diseases and non-allergic inflammatory diseases, and to assess the relationships between serum ECP levels and inflammatory parameters.

Methods

In this study, we included 146 children with allergic diseases, 76 children with non-allergic inflammatory diseases, and 25 control subjects. Serum concentrations of ECP, hs-CRP, total IgE, and allergen-specific IgE were measured.

Results

Serum ECP levels (77.5±88.2 µg/L) of patients with allergic diseases were significantly higher than those of the patients with non-allergic inflammatory diseases (42.2±58.8 µg/L) and control subjects (12.7±4.2 µg/L) (P<0.001, respectively). The serum ECP levels in patients with non-allergic inflammatory diseases were also significantly higher than those in the controls (42.2±58.8 vs. 12.7±4.2 µg/L; P<0.001). The hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in patients with allergic diseases than in the controls (0.4±0.9 vs. 0.1±0.2 mg/dL; P<0.05). No significant relationship was observed between serum ECP and hs-CRP levels in the allergic patients (r=0.09, P>0.05).

Conclusions

Measurement of serum ECP and hs-CRP concentrations can be helpful in the clinical evaluation and monitoring of patients with allergic diseases. No significant correlation was observed between serum ECP and hs-CRP levels in allergic patients, thereby suggesting that elevated levels of ECP do not necessarily reflect the degree of systemic inflammation in allergic diseases.

Keywords: Eosinophil cationic protein, High sensitivity C-reactive protein, Eosinophil, Immunoglobulin E, Allergic disease

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Characteristics of the study population

^*Other inflammations: fever (1), enteritis (2), and chronic cough (1).

Table 2

ECP, WBC, hs-CRP, and total IgE levels in the patient and control groups

Data are expressed as mean±SD (median: range).

^*P<0.05, allergy group vs. control; ^†P<0.05, non-allergic inflammation group vs. control; ^‡P<0.05, allergy group vs. non-allergic inflammation group.

Abbreviations: ECP, eosinophil cationic protein; WBC, white blood cell; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; NA, not applicable.

Table 3

Correlation coefficients of serum ECP and hs-CRP levels versus other variables in allergy, non-allergic inflammation, and control groups

^*Statistically significant (P<0.05).

Abbreviations: ECP, eosinophil cationic protein; WBC, white blood cell; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; NA, not applicable.

Table 4

hs-CRP concentrations on the basis of upper and lower 10 percentile of ECP levels in allergy and non-allergic inflammation group

^*P>0.05, upper 10 percentile of ECP vs. lower 10 percentile of ECP.

Data are expressed as mean±SD (median: range).

Abbreviations: ECP, eosinophil cationic protein; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.

Table 5

Mean values of serum ECP concentrations in relation to blood eosinophil counts in allergy, non-allergic inflammation, and control groups

^*Cut-off point for eosinophil count (300×10⁶/L); ^†Number of subjects with eosinophil count ≥300×10⁶/L (N=2); ^‡Statistically significant (P=0.043); allergy group with eosinophil count <300×10⁶/L vs. inflammation group with eosinophil count <300×10⁶/L.

Abbreviation: ECP, eosinophil cationic protein.

Table 6

ECP, WBC, hs-CRP, and total IgE levels between food allergy and inhalant allergy in allergy patients

Abbreviations: D.P., Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus; D.F., D. farinae; ECP, eosinophil cationic protein; WBC, white blood cell; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.

Notes

This article is available from http://www.labmedonline.org

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