RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: COPD is a complex respiratory disorder with high morbidity and mortality rates. Even with the current conventional diagnostic methods, including circulating inflammatory biomarkers, underdiagnosis rates in COPD remain as high as 70%. Our study was a comparative cross-sectional study that aimed to address the diagnostic challenges by identifying future biomarker candidates in COPD variants. METHODS: This study used a label-free plasma proteomics approach that combined mass spectrometric data with bioinformatics to shed light on the functional roles of differentially expressed proteins in the COPD lung microenvironment. The predictive capacity of the screened proteins was assessed using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, with Western blot analysis validating protein expression patterns in an independent cohort. RESULTS: Our study identified three DEPs-reticulocalbin-1, sideroflexin-4, and liprinα-3 that consistently exhibited altered expression in COPD exacerbation. ROC analysis indicated strong predictive potential, with AUC values of 0.908, 0.715, and 0.856 for RCN1, SFXN4, and LIPα-3, respectively. Validation through Western blot analysis confirmed their expression patterns in an independent validation cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Our study discovered a novel duo of proteins reticulocalbin-1, and sideroflexin-4 that showed potential as valuable future biomarkers for the diagnosis and clinical management of COPD exacerbations.
RESUMEN
We report the case of an 18-year-old female who was mis-diagnosed as a smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis and advised standard antituberculosis treatment. She later presented with clinio-radiological worsening and thrombosis of superficial veins of the lower extremity. Cytoplasmic anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody and computed tomography-guided lung biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of Wegener's granulomatosis. The rare association of superficial vein thrombosis with lung manifestation is highlighted here as also the need for a high index of clinical suspicion to avoid a missed or delayed diagnosis.