Analysis of fluid phase mediators

V. Keatings, R. Leigh, C. Peterson, Jan Shute, P. Venge, R. Djukanovic

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Sputum cellular indices are valid, reliable and responsive to change 1–7. Increasingly, numerous inflammatory mediators are being measured in the fluid phase of sputum; these include cytokines, chemokines, granulocyte proteins, markers of vascular leakage, eicosanoids, proteases and others. Many of these mediators are included in table 1⇓, which gives details of methods used by investigators to process sputum and measure mediator levels. The table also provides the median/mean levels measured in studied subject groups to give an indication of the expected levels of these mediators in sputum. However, the reproducibility, precision and validity of many of these measurements in sputum have not been investigated and, therefore, their utility as a research and clinical tool remains uncertain and requires confirmation. The following issues are important in the analysis of mediators: 1) choice of methods for measuring fluid­phase mediators; 2) points to consider when planning an immunoassay; and 3) evaluation of the measurement of a soluble mediator in sputum, i.e. validation of the measurement method.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)24s-39s
    JournalEuropean Respiratory Journal
    Volume20
    Issue number37
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 2002

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