The changes and clinical significance of LOXL2,TGF-β and CTGF in patients with connective tissue disease associated with interstitial lung disease before and after treatment with cyclophosphamide
Objective:To observe the changes and clinical significance of serum lysyl oxidase-like protein 2(LOXL2),transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)and connective tissue growth factor(CTGF)in pa-tients with connective tissue disease and interstitial lung disease(CTD-ILD)before and after treatment with cyclophosphamide.Methods:From March 2021 to May 2022,30 patients with CTD-ILD who were admitted to the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology,the First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College,In-ner Mongolia University of Science and Technology and treated with intravenous infusion of cyclophosphamide were selected.The clinical data,imaging data and laboratory data of patients at baseline before treatment and 12 weeks and 24 weeks after treatment with cyclophosphamide were observed.The changes and clinical signifi-cance of serum LOXL2,TGF-β and CTGF in patients with CTD-ILD before and after treatment with cyclo-phosphamide were analyzed.Results:After 24 weeks of treatment with cyclophosphamide,the levels of serum ESR,IgM,IgA and IgG in patients with CTD-ILD were significantly decreased,and the lung function inde-xes TLC,FVC,FEV1/FVC and DLCO%were significantly improved(P<0.05).After 12 weeks and 24 weeks of treatment,the levels of serum LOXL2,TGF-β and CTGF were significantly decreased,and 6-MWT was significantly improved.HRCT score and CRP score were significantly lower(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in C-reactive protein and blood gas analysis indexes PaO2 and PaCO2 after 12 weeks and 24 weeks of treatment(P>0.05).The level of serum LOXL2 in CTD-ILD patients was positively corre-lated with ESR,IgA and IgG(P<0.05).LOXL2 was positively correlated with TGF-β and CTGF(P=0.001,0.003),TGF-β was positively correlated with CTGF(P=0.025).Conclusion:Cyclophospha-mide may inhibit TGF-β signaling pathway by inhibiting the expression of serum LOXL2,and then affect the expression of CTGF to effectively control pulmonary fibrosis in patients with CTD-ILD.