Is ischemia modified albumin a good marker in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

Objectives: Our aim is to compare the Ischemia modified albumin (IMA) in patients with acute exacerbationof Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) with a high oxidative and inflammatory biologic markerlike C-reactive protein (CRP) and to investigate its employability in AECOPD and the relationship betweenarterial blood gas and pulmonary function parameters.Methods: Forty-six patients diagnosed with acute exacerbation of COPD between March 2015 - September2016 at Ufuk University School of Medicine were included. The 1st and 5th days of IMA and CRP levels weremeasured. Also, IMA levels were given in absorbance units (ABSU).Results: Total 46 patients of COPD, 13 (28.3%) were females and 33 (71.76%) were males. The mean age ofthe patients was 71.39 ± 10.04 years. The 1st and 5th day values of IMA, ABSU and CRP were 1.08 ± 0.33and 0.49 ± 0.24; 1.06 ± 0.34 and 0.49 ± 0.26; and 29.25 (3.10-288.00) and 6.35 (0.30-149.00), respectively (p< 0.001). No significant correlation was determined between IMA and CRP. Also, no correlation weredetermined between the parameters of arterial blood gas and pulmonary function.Conclusions: Although IMA values showed significant increase during acute exacerbation of COPD anddecreased after treatment, CRP still appeared more effective in evaluating the exacerbation status and followingup of the treatment of patients with COPD