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Wilhelm Bertrams (Institute for Lung Research, Marburg)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a poorly reversible condition characterized by airflow limitation and decrease of lung function. Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is clinically defined by a sudden onset of severe illness that is accompanied by signs of lower respiratory tract infection, fever, cough and dyspnoea. We investigated the PBMC RNA profile of 5 healthy donors, 6 pneumonia patients and 6 COPD patients with acute exacerbations. 2797 genes were significantly regulated in either the CAP vs. healthy or COPD vs. healthy contrast. In an attempt to find a subgroup of genes with discriminatory potential between CAP and COPD, a module of 537 genes, the “blue” module, was identified by Weighted Gene Co-expression Analysis (WGCNA). Biological integration of this mathematically derived group of genes yielded a network with clear hub genes, most notably HNF4A. In summary, the main contribution of this study is the identification of a module of 537 genes (the “blue” module) that can differentiate between CAP and COPD. The described factors may yet serve as accessible markers of disease in peripheral blood.