This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a rural community-based integrated intervention for early prevention and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in China. This 18-year cluster-randomized controlled trial encompassing 15 villages included 1008 patients (454 men and 40 women in the intervention group [mean age, 54 ± 10 years]; 482 men and 32 women in the control group [mean age, 53 ± 10 years]) with confirmed COPD or at risk for COPD. Villages were randomly assigned to the intervention or the control group, and study participants residing within the villages received treatment accordingly. Intervention group patients took part in a program that included systematic health education, smoking cessation counseling, and education on management of COPD. Control group patients received usual care. The groups were compared after 18 years regarding the incidence of COPD, decline in lung function, and mortality of COPD. COPD incidence was lower in the intervention group than in the control group (10% vs 16%, <0.05). A decline in lung function was also significantly delayed in the intervention group compared to the control group of COPD and high-risk patients. The intervention group showed significant improvement in smoking cessation compared with the control group, and smokers in the intervention group had lower smoking indices than in the control group (350 vs 450, <0.05). The intervention group also had a significantly lower cumulative COPD-related death rate than the control group (37% vs 47%, <0.05). A rural community-based integrated intervention is effective in reducing the incidence of COPD among those at risk, delaying a decline in lung function in COPD patients and those at risk, and reducing mortality of COPD.

Milk fat globule epidermal growth factor 8 (MFG-E8) is an opsonin involved in the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), apoptotic cell clearance is defective. However, whether aberrant MFG-E8 expression is involved in this defect is unknown. In this study, we examined the expression of MFG-E8 in COPD patients. MFG-E8, interleukin (IL)-1β and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β levels were measured in the plasma of 96 COPD patients (93 males, 3 females; age range: 62.12±10.39) and 87 age-matched healthy controls (85 males, 2 females; age range: 64.81±10.11 years) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Compared with controls, COPD patients had a significantly lower plasma MFG-E8 levels (P<0.01) and significantly higher plasma TGF-β levels (P=0.002), whereas there was no difference in plasma IL-1β levels between the two groups. Moreover, plasma MFG-E8 levels decreased progressively between Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) I and GOLD IV stage COPD. Multiple regression analysis showed that the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 % predicted) and smoking habit were powerful predictors of MFG-E8 in COPD (P<0.01 and P=0.026, respectively). MFG-E8 was positively associated with the FEV1 % predicted and negatively associated with smoking habit. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.874 (95% confidence interval: 0.798-0.95; P<0.01). Our findings demonstrated the utility of MFG-E8 as a marker of disease severity in COPD and that cigarette smoke impaired MFG-E8 expression in these patients.