Clinical and Biological Markers in Acute Respiratory Failure

In a recent experimental study, the investigators showed that the growth factor Activin A is expressed in the lungs of rats with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) at levels that are comparable with those determined in the bronchoalveolar (BAL) lavage fluid from patients with ARDS. In the same study, the administration of the Activin A inhibitor Folistatin resulted in attenuation of the histological damage of the ARDS-afflicted rat lung. The precise role of Activin A/Folistatin in acute respiratory failure associated with acute lung inflammatory pathology has not been elucidated yet. Therefore, the purpose of the present, observational study is to investigate the role of Activin A/Folistatin in respiratory failure due to ARDS and/or ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), also in relation with other biochemical markers, such as cytokines and surfactant-related proteins.