Objective: To study the relation between viral infection and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the role of viral infection in the pathogenesis of COPD.
Methods: (1)Serum samples from 91 patients with acute exacerbation of COPD (Group A), 42 patients with stable COPD (Group B) and 25 healthy subjects (Group C) were tested for specific IgM and IgG for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) parainfluenza virus(PIV),adenovirus (ADV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) with an indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). (2) T lymphocyte subsets (CD(3) CD(4) and CD(8)) were studied by flow cytometry in patients with IgM positivity (Group D n = 28) and patients in Group C.
Results: (1) The positive rates of IgM were significantly different (P < 0.001) in group A (12%, 8%, 6%, 2%, 3% for RSV HSV-1 PIV ADV and CMV) as compared to group B (0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%) and group C (0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%). There was no significant difference in the positive rate of IgG between group A (47%, 41%, 12%, 14%, 10%) and group B (43%, 33%, 12%, 7%, 7%, P > 0.05), but the positive rates of IgG in group A and group B were significantly different (P < 0.01) as compared to group C (0%, 8%, 0%, 0%, 0%) (2)In group D the expression of CD(4) and CD(4)/CD(8) were significantly lower, the expression of CD(8) was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than those in group C but the expression of CD(3) was not significantly different (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Viral infection was common in acute exacerbation of COPD, and related to the pathogenic mechanism of COPD.