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LL-37

Cathelicidin, hCAP-18, FALL-39, CAP-18

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Studies 2230

Trials 95

Overview Studies Clinical Trials

Score 1

2024 pubmed 2 citations

Levels of Lysozyme and SLPI in Bronchoalveolar Lavage: Exploring Their Role in Interstitial Lung Disease.

Osuna-Gómez. Rubén R; Mulet. Maria M; Barril. Silvia S; Cantó. Elisabet E; Millan-Billi. Paloma P; Pardessus. Ana A; de la Rosa-Carrillo. David D; Castillo. Diego D; Vidal. Silvia S

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Key Findings

BAL levels of lysozyme, SLPI, and LL‑37 are significantly reduced in fibrotic ILD patients
Lower peptide levels correlate with higher TGF‑β and IL‑17, cytokines that drive fibrosis
Lysozyme boosts certain immune cells (CD86+ macrophages) and TNF‑α production, linking it to anti‑fibrotic activity

Practical Outcomes

For biohackers, the findings suggest these antimicrobial peptides might be markers of lung fibrosis, but there’s no direct protocol or supplement strategy to apply. Until more research shows how to safely raise their levels, it’s mainly a scientific insight rather than a usable health hack.

Summary

The study found that people with lung scarring (fibrotic ILD) have lower levels of natural antimicrobial proteins like lysozyme, SLPI, and LL‑37 in their lung fluid, and these low levels are linked to higher levels of fibrosis‑promoting signals. While the proteins seem to help fight fibrosis, the research doesn’t give any clear ways to use them for health hacks or dosing advice.

Abstract

Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are characterized by inflammation or fibrosis of the pulmonary parenchyma. Despite the involvement of immune cells and soluble mediators in pulmonary fibrosis, the influence of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) remains underexplored. These effector molecules display a range of activities, which include immunomodulation and wound repair. Here, we investigate the role of AMPs in the development of fibrosis in ILD. We compare the concentration of different AMPs and different cytokines in 46 fibrotic (F-ILD) and 17 non-fibrotic (NF-ILD) patients by ELISA and using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from in vitro stimulation in the presence of lysozyme or secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) from 10 healthy donors. We observed that bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) levels of AMPs were decreased in F-ILD patients (lysozyme: p < 0.001; SLPI: p < 0.001; LL-37: p < 0.001; lactoferrin: p = 0.47) and were negatively correlated with levels of TGF-β (lysozyme: p = 0.02; SLPI: p < 0.001) and IL-17 (lysozyme: p < 0.001; SLPI: p < 0.001). We observed that lysozyme increased the percentage of CD86+ macrophages (p < 0.001) and the production of TNF-α (p < 0.001). We showed that lysozyme and SLPI were associated with clinical parameters (lysozyme: p < 0.001; SLPI: p < 0.001) and disease progression (lysozyme: p < 0.001; SLPI: p = 0.01). These results suggest that AMPs may play an important role in the anti-fibrotic response, regulating the effect of pro-fibrotic cytokines. In addition, levels of lysozyme in BAL may be a potential biomarker to predict the progression in F-ILD patients.

Study Information

Provider

pubmed

Year

2024

Date

2024-04-12T00:00:00.000Z

DOI

10.3390/ijms25084297

Citations

References