Table 4 Effect of HA on spontaneous and LPS stimulated TNFα release in blood cells.
| Control subjects | COPD patients | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non‐smoking | Smoking | Steroid free | Steroid treated | ||
| (n = 11) | (n = 10) | (n = 9) | (n = 8) | ||
| LPS 0 | None | <10 (<10–21) | <10 (<10–22) | <10 (<10–57) | <10 (<10–47) |
| HA 122 kDa | <10 (<10–19) | <10 (<10–14) | <10 (<10–27) | <10 (<10–25) | |
| HA >103 kDa | <10 (<10–15) | <10 (<10–29) | <10 (<10–37) | <10 (<10–105) | |
| LPS 1 ng/ml | None | 738 (125–3172) | 533 (98–1607) | 1117 (96–3057) | 829 (86–2468) |
| HA 122 kDa | 496 (16–1916)* | 189 (24–1547)* | 859 (74–2684)* | 404 (10–1433)* | |
| HA >103 kDa | 466 (10–2305)* | 122 (37–1784)* | 928 (117–2840)* | 558 (41–1783)* | |
| LPS 10 ng/ml | None | 1677 (625–3681) | 1902 (1110–2654) | 2619 (1694–3386) | 2405 (794–3543) |
| HA 122 kDa | 1501 (520–3513) | 1654 (540–2696) | 2534 (1151–3760) | 2296 (559–3080) | |
| HA >103 kDa | 1386 (421–3214) | 1708 (908–2606) | 2545 (1428–3225)† | 2477 (828–3264) | |
LPS, lipopolysaccharide; HA, hyaluronan.
Values are expressed as median (range).
TNFα was measured by ELISA and expressed in pg/ml. The detection level of the assay was 10 pg/ml, therefore samples that were not measurable are indicated as <10 pg/ml. The effect of 10 μg/ml HA 122 kDa and 10 μg/ml HA >103 kDa are shown. Intra‐group comparisons were performed by the Friedman test and, if appropriate (at p<0.05), by a paired Wilcoxon rank sum test.
*p<0.05 v TNFα production in response to LPS 1 ng/ml without HA added.
†p<0.05 v TNFα production in response to LPS 10 ng/ml without HA added.