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Objective To investigate the expression of the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and GM-CSF/IL-3/IL-5 receptor common beta chain (βc receptor) in an adult patient with idiopathic pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), so as to demonstrate the possible association of the GM-CSF and βc receptor with the pathogenesis of human PAP.Methods The GM-CSF levels were measured with a commercial ELISA kit (sensitivity 5?pg/ml) and the βc receptor expression on the cell surface was detected by flow cytometry analysis. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis was employed to detect the expression of the GM-CSF mRNA and the βc receptor mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and alveolar macrophages. The entire coding regions of the GM-CSF cDNA and the βc receptor cDNA were sequenced by the Sanger dideoxy-mediated chain termination method to detect possible mutations.Results The patient with PAP failed to release the GM-CSF protein either from circulating mononuclear cells or from alveolar macrophages. The expression of the GM-CSF mRNA was normal after the stimulation of lipopolysaccharide, whereas a point mutation at position 382 of the GM-CSF cDNA from “T" to “C" was revealed by cDNA sequencing, which caused a change in amino acid 117 of the protein from isoleucine to threonine. The βc receptor expression on the cell surface was normal, and the βc receptor mRNA expression and the sequence of the entire coding region of the βc receptor were also normal.Conclusions The decreased GM-CSF production is associated with the pathogenesis of human PAP. A point mutation of the GM-CSF cDNA may contribute to the decreased GM-CSF production in our adult PAP patient. The mutation of the βc receptor in some of paediatric patients with PAP may not be a common problem in adult patients.