The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of ACE in various biological media (blood, sputum, and lung tissue) on the clinical manifestations and morphofunctional cardiac variables in 137 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), of whom 17% had mild, 70% had medium, and 13% had severe degree of the disease according to Federal program, 1999. Seventy percent of the patients had stage II pulmonary hypertension according to Paleyev, 1986, while the number of patients with stage I and III was 14 and 16%, respectively. Circulatory insufficiency was mild (NYHA I to II) in 124 patients, and medium (NYHA III) in 13 patients only. The results of the study demonstrate that COPD exacerbation is accompanied by an increase in ACE activity, mostly in the lung tissue, induced sputum (IS), and, to a lesser degree, in blood serum; ISA CE activity is almost the same as that in the lung tissue. The study established a direct correlation between IS ACE activity and the level of C-reactive protein, an inflammatory process activity marker, and a reverse correlation between IS ACE activity and respiratory function variables, the latter characterizing bronchial obstruction. The study shows a strong direct correlation between IS ACE activity and the degree of right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, as well as diastolic function disturbances according to RV isovolumetric relaxation time and LV early diastolic filling delay time. There is a strong reverse correlation between IS ACE activity and the disbalance of the ratio of blood flow velocities during early and late diastolic ventricular filling. The study found no significant correlations between ACE activity and the variables of ventricular systolic function. The study demonstrates a significant role of ACE activity changes in the progression of obstruction, inflammation, and myocardial remodeling.
Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A/metabolism , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/enzymology , Adult , Aged , Biomarkers/metabolism , Female , Humans , Lung/enzymology , Male , Middle Aged , Myocardial Contraction/physiology , Prognosis , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/physiopathology , Severity of Illness Index , Spectrophotometry , Sputum/enzymology , Ventricular Function/physiology
AIM: To study the activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in patients with pneumonia and chronic obstructive lung diseases (COLD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty nine patients with pneumonia and 77 with COLD were examined. The activity of ACE in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and the effects of leukocytic elastase and concentrations of zinc, endogenous inhibitors, and activators were studied. RESULTS: The patients with pneumonia in the acute phase of the disease have been found to have low ACE activity in both blood and BAL. As the inflammatory process comes to an end, ACE activity normalizes. In the patients with COLD, the activity of ACE is primarily decreased at remission. When COLD aggravates, the activity of ACE in blood and BAL increases. In pneumonia and COLD, the changes in ACE activity are more profound in BAL than in blood. CONCLUSION: The only cause of the altered activity of ACE in patients with COLD and pneumonia is a change in the concentration of the enzyme.
Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A/metabolism , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/metabolism , Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid , Humans
Mitochondria, Liver/metabolism , Aerobiosis/drug effects , Animals , Cytoplasm/drug effects , Cytoplasm/metabolism , Dithiothreitol/pharmacology , Hot Temperature , Hydrogen-Ion Concentration , In Vitro Techniques , Kidney/drug effects , Kidney/metabolism , Male , Mitochondria/drug effects , Mitochondria/metabolism , Mitochondria, Liver/drug effects , Organ Specificity/drug effects , Oxidative Phosphorylation/drug effects , Rats
