Low levels of serum complement factor H is associated with increasing progression of bronchiectasis

Complement Factor H (CFH) is the major soluble regulatory protein that monitors activation and/or amplification of the complement system. Here, we assess serum levels of complement factor H (CFH) among patients, who were diagnosed with bronchiectasis. Methods: 115 subjects of 80 patients and 35 healthy volunteers were recruited for the study. Blood samples were collected and subjected to centrifugation in order to obtain the serum. The sensitive sandwich ELISA technique, specific for CFH was used for evaluation of CFH in the serum. Results: The age and Body Mass Index (BMI) (expressed as Mean+/-SEM (range)) of the observed bronchiectasis patients and healthy volunteers were 66+/-1.13, (30-86) years, 54+/-2.37 (27-84) years and 26.14 kg/m2, 27.4 kg/m2 respectively. CFH was detected in 27.0% of all subjects examined. It was found to be more common among bronchiectasis patients (18.26%) compared to healthy volunteers (8.70%) (F=0.9362; df=1; p<0.05). Mean CFH concentration was 17.0pg/ml and 9.0pg/ml in bronchiectasis patients and healthy volunteers respectively. FEV1% Pre. FEV1/VC% and CFH levels were found to decrease with increasing severity of bronchiectasis. The association between lung function, CFH levels and severity of disease among bronchiectasis patients was negative, strongly linear (r= -0.9316, r2 =0.8678) and statistically significant (p<0.0001). Conclusion: As such, it can be inferred that low level of compliment factor H is related to the progression of bronchiectasis.