Airway pepsinogen A4 identifies lung transplant recipients with microaspiration and predicts chronic lung allograft dysfunction

Aspiration is a known risk-factor for adverse outcomes post-lung transplantation. Airway bile acids are the gold-standard biomarker of aspiration – however they are released into the duodenum and likely reflect concurrent gastrointestinal dysmotility. Previous studies investigating total airway pepsin have found conflicting results on its relationship with adverse outcomes post-lung transplantation. These studies measured total pepsin and p epsinogen in the airways. Certain pepsinogens are constitutively expressed in the lungs while others, like pepsinogen A4 (PGA4), are not.
Source: The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation - Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: Source Type: research