ISSN: 2161-1149 (Printed)
Yangyang Luo and Rong Xiao
Interstitial lung disease is a prevalent but worrisome implication in scleroderma. It is now the leading cause of morbidity and mortality since the dramatic reduction in death caused by scleroderma renal crisis. However, the pathogenesis remains unknown. Most observers suggest that lung injury induces microvascular damage and immunologically-mediated inflammation. As oxidative stress and leukotrienes-lipoxins imbalance is observed in -ILD patients, a series of proinflammatory and profibrotic cytokines are also found. Possible biomarkers including SP-D, KL-6, Caveolin-1, IL-6, IL-1 may be useful index for diagnosis and progression, which also suggest the potential mechanism. There are also some studies focusing the relationship between gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and SSc- ILD, which partly explain the mechanism from a new perspective.