Background: The present study was done to compare serum heart type-fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) levels in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and healthy subjects and address the correlation of this marker with airflow limitation and health-related quality of life using the COPD assessment test (CAT).
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we measured serum H-FABP levels in 50 patients with stable COPD and 34 healthy controls and compared them in terms of smoking history, airflow limitation according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria, and CAT score. We also tested the association between serum H-FABP level and the COPD patients’ clinical parameters. For statistical analysis, we used the Student's t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson’s (or Spearman’s rank -order) correlation test.
Results: Serum H-FABP level increased in the COPD patients compared with the control group (p <0.01). Although there   was no association between serum H-FABP levels and disease severity based on the GOLD criteria, FABP levels increased in the subjects with a history of smoking in compared with the non-smoker control subjects (p < 0.01). In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between serum H-FABP level and smoking history (r = 0.367, P = 0.001).
Conclusion: The serum H-FABP level increased in both the stable COPD patients and healthy subjects with smoking history. However, no   correlation was found between serum H-FABP and the severity of airflow limitation based on the GOLD criteria.  Based on the results, it is unclear whether the H-FABP level is a causative factor in COPD patients or healthy smokers.