Serum and bronchoalveolar fluid KL-6 levels in patients with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a disease characterized by the filling of alveolar spaces with periodic acid-Schiff-positive proteinaceous material and by the hypertrophy of type II pneumocytes in the alveolar interstitium. To examine if KL-6, a mucinlike glycoprotein, is useful for the diagnosis of PAP and the estimation of its activity, serum KL-6 levels in patients with PAP were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and compared with those of patients with other lung diseases. Furthermore, to estimate the origin of KL-6 in some patients, measurements of KL-6 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and immunohistochemical staining of the lung tissues with a monoclonal antibody to KL-6 antigen were performed. Serum KL-6 levels in patients with PAP were extremely high and were significantly higher than those in patients with interstitial lung diseases in which elevation of serum KL-6 has been recognized. BAL-fluid KL-6 levels in patients with PAP were higher than serum levels. Both serum and BAL-fluid KL-6 levels in patients with PAP correlated well with the disease activity. Immunohistochemically, positive staining was observed in proliferating type II pneumocytes. These results suggest the usefulness of KL-6 measurement in the diagnosis and estimation of disease activity of PAP.