Exp Mol Med.  2012 May;44(5):319-329.

Role of vitamin D-binding protein in isocyanate-induced occupational asthma

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 443-721, Korea. hspark@ajou.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Internal Medicine, Kosin University College of Medicine, Busan 602-703, Korea.
  • 3Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang 431-070, Korea.
  • 4Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul 152-703, Korea.
  • 5Department of Pharmacology and Chronic Inflammatory, Disease Research Center, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 443-721, Korea. sangmyun@ajou.ac.kr

Abstract

The development of a serological marker for early diagnosis of isocyanate-induced occupational asthma (isocyanate-OA) may improve clinical outcome. Our previous proteomic study found that expression of vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) was upregulated in the patients with isocyanate-OA. In the present study, we evaluated the clinical relevance of VDBP as a serological marker in screening for isocyanate-OA among exposed workers and its role in the pathogenesis of isocyanate-OA. Three study groups including 61 patients with isocyanate-OA (group I), 180 asymptomatic exposed controls (AECs, group II), 58 unexposed healthy controls (NCs, group III) were enrolled in this study. The baseline serum VDBP level was significantly higher in group I compared with groups II and III. The sensitivity and specificity for predicting the phenotype of isocyanate-OA with VDBP were 69% and 81%, respectively. The group I subjects with high VDBP (> or = 311 microg/ml) had significantly lower PC20 methacholine levels than did subjects with low VDBP. The in vitro studies showed that TDI suppressed the uptake of VDBP into RLE-6TN cells, which was mediated by the downregulation of megalin, an endocytic receptor of the 25-hydroxycholecalciferol-VDBP complex. Furthermore, toluene diisocyanate (TDI) increased VEGF production and secretion from this epithelial cells by suppression of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [1,25(OH)2D3] production. The findings of this study suggest that the serum VDBP level may be used as a serological marker for the detection of isocyanate-OA among workers exposed to isocyanate. The TDI-induced VEGF production/secretion was reversed by 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment, which may provide a potential therapeutic strategy for patients with isocyanate-OA.

Keyword

asthma, occupational; biological markers; isocyanates; low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-2; vascular endothelial growth factorA; vitamin D-binding protein

MeSH Terms

Adult
Animals
*Asthma/blood/chemically induced/pathology
Cell Line
Epithelial Cells
Female
Gene Expression/drug effects
Humans
Isocyanates/toxicity
Male
Middle Aged
*Occupational Diseases/blood/chemically induced/pathology
Rats
Toluene 2,4-Diisocyanate/toxicity
Vitamin D-Binding Protein/*blood
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