Examining the Relationship between Disease Severity and Serum Levels of Activin-A, CC-16, and KL-6 in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Patients

Abstract

Objective: To study the correlation of expression levels of serum activin-A (ACT-A), Clara cell secretary protein-16 (CC-16), and Krebs von den lungen-6 (KL-6) with disease severity in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 170 ARDS patients at Yantaishan Hospital between May 2020 and May 2022. Patients were categorized into light (LG), moderate (MG), and severe (SG) groups based on their oxygenation index (OI) values. We then measured the serum levels of ACT-A, CC-16, and KL-6 in these patients. Finally, the correlation between these serum expression levels and ARDS severity was analyzed using Pearson correlation. Results: Among 170 patients, there were 53 cases in the LG, 60 cases in the MG, and 57 cases in the SG, with the mean OI values of 247.90 ± 28.61 mmHg, 151.05 ± 25.96 mmHg and 83.13 ± 8.04 mmHg, respectively. The serum levels of ACT-A, CC-16, and KL-6 increased with the disease severity, and there were apparent differences in the comparison of serum levels in all groups (p < 0.05). The serum levels of ACT-A, CC-16, and KL-6 were negatively correlated with OI values (r = –0.841, –0.799, –0.869, p < 0.001). Conclusions: As the severity of ARDS escalates, the serum levels of ACT-A, CC-16, and KL-6 have been observed to increase correspondingly, which is closely related to the disease severity. Therefore, monitoring ACT-A, CC-16, and KL-6 serum levels could be a valuable reference for future diagnostic procedures and treatment strategies.