GENE EXPRESSION, PROFILING AND OVERLAPPING TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROFILES IN NON-SPECIFIC INTERSTITIAL PNEUMONIA

Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, identified histologically as usual interstitial pneumonia, accounts for most cases of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. IPF affects men and women > 50 in a ratio of 2:1, with a markedly increased incidence with each decade of age. Aims and objectives: The basic aim of the study is to analyze gene expression profiling and overlapping transcriptional profiles in non-specific interstitial pneumonia. Material and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at Services Hospital, Lahore during March 2019 to November 2019. RNA was extracted and hybridized to the Human Gene 1.0 set array from explanted lungs (2001–2008) in 22 patients with clinical diagnosis of sporadic IPF. 10 subjects with clinical diagnosis of idiopathic NSIP and definite histologic pattern of fibrotic NSIP; and 11 normal lung samples (age 52 ± 18 years, 4 females) obtained from the region of normal tissue flanking lung cancer resections in ILD-free patients. Results: There were no significant differences in pulmonary function tests, exercise capacity or pulmonary artery pressures. NSIP patients were significantly younger than IPF patients. Genes with significantly increased expression in NSIP, compared to both IPF and normal controls, were involved in regulatory mechanisms of immune reaction, including the all reactive T cell response. Conclusion: It is concluded that gene expression profiling from whole lung explants aligns separate, well-recognizable histopathologic patterns of IIP with distinct transcriptional profiles and differentially expressed genes, and does not support the notion of NSIP as an early manifestation of IPF