Fig. 8

Elastin degradation products in patients with interstitial lung diseases and evidence of aspiration. Representative Western blot of soluble elastin in BALF samples obtained from patients with interstitial lung diseases and controls. Lanes 1 to 6 correspond to BALF samples from subjects without interstitial lung disease and no evidence of aspiration (negative pepsin). A single band in the 70 kDa range is detected in all samples, without evidence of smaller molecular weight elastin-derived peptides. Lanes 7 to 12 correspond to BALF samples from subjects with an exacerbation of an interstitial lung disease, with no evidence of infection and with high levels of pepsin. The 70 kDa band corresponding to tropoelastin is present in all samples, whereas the 35–50 kDa bands are detected in 5 out of 6 samples. In addition, a diffuse pattern of bands in the 50–70 kDa range is seen in all samples. Lane 13 corresponds to a BALF sample from a rat that received a single instillation of gastric fluid and was studied 12 h later (a time point at which elastin degradation products exhibit maximum levels). ILD: interstitial lung disease; h: hours