Paper Title
Evaluating A New Marker In Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The Ischemia Modified Albumin Paradox
Abstract
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a complex multisystem disorder characterized by
inflammatory obstruction of the small airways as in chronic bronchitis or inflammatory destruction as in emphysema. Smoking
is the main etiological factor causing COPD. Tobacco smoke causes oxidative stress and free radical damage which is central
to the pathogenesis of COPD. Ischemia Modified Albumin (IMA) is a new and an upcoming biomarker that has shown be an
excellent marker to quantify oxidative stress and end organ ischemic damage. The aim of our study is to estimate the levels of
IMA in patients with COPD and analyze its clinical implications. The test subjects comprised of 20 patients with clinically
diagnosed COPD. The control group had 20 apparently healthy individuals. Serum IMA was estimated by the Albumin Cobalt
Binding (ABT) Test and represented in Absorbance Units (ABSU). Serum IMA in COPD patients (0.1054±0.0365) was
significantly lower than that of the control group (0.2684±0.1103) with a p value of <0.0001. This shows that patients with
COPD have altered ischemic status. While other studies evaluating IMA in pathological states associated with ischemic
damage like heart failure and diabetes showed a rise in IMA levels, our study demonstrated that IMA levels were low in
COPD. This emphasizes the need to carry out further research with regard to IMA and COPD.
Index Terms—Biomarker, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Ischemia Modified Albumin, Oxidative stress.