Evaluation of airway inflammation by quantitative Th1/Th2 cytokine mRNA measurement in sputum of asthma patients

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways driven by T cell activation. Th2 cells and their cytokines are thought to play a role in the pathophysiology of allergic as well as non-allergic asthma. Methods: Airway cells were obtained by sputum induction from 15 healthy and 39...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Thorax 2006-03, Vol.61 (3), p.202-208
Main Authors: Truyen, E, Coteur, L, Dilissen, E, Overbergh, L, Dupont, L J, Ceuppens, J L, Bullens, D M A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Allergens
Allergies
ASS
Asthma
Asthma - metabolism
Asthma - physiopathology
asthma symptom score
Biological and medical sciences
Bronchitis - diagnosis
Cells
Chemokines
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma
Cytokines
Cytokines - metabolism
eNO
exhaled nitric oxide
Female
FEV1
Forced Expiratory Volume - physiology
forced expiratory volume in 1 second
histamine concentration provoking a 20% decrease in FEV1
Humans
ICS
IFN-γ
induced sputum
Inflammation
inhaled corticosteroids
interferon γ
interleukin
mAb
Male
Medical sciences
messenger RNA
Middle Aged
monoclonal antibody
mRNA
Patients
PC20
Pneumology
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
severity
Sputum - metabolism
T helper
Th1 Cells - metabolism
Th1/Th2 cytokines
Th2 Cells - metabolism
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Summary:Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways driven by T cell activation. Th2 cells and their cytokines are thought to play a role in the pathophysiology of allergic as well as non-allergic asthma. Methods: Airway cells were obtained by sputum induction from 15 healthy and 39 asthmatic individuals and the airway T cell cytokine profiles (interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-13, IL-10 and interferon (IFN)-γ) at the mRNA level were studied by real time RT-PCR. Results: Asthma patients had increased expression of IL-5 (p = 0.001) and IL-13 (p = 0.03) mRNA in sputum compared with non-asthmatic controls. IL-4 mRNA and IFN-γ mRNA were detectable in the sputum of 44% and 21% of patients, respectively, but not in controls. Sputum IL-10 mRNA levels did not differ significantly between patients and controls. Sputum mRNA expression levels of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 were significantly correlated with the percentage of eosinophils and were higher in subjects with allergic asthma than in those with non-allergic asthma (p = 0.03, p = 0.02 and p = 0.0002, respectively); they did not differ between mild asthmatic subjects and those with moderate to severe asthma. In contrast, IFN-γ mRNA expression was higher in non-allergic than in allergic patients (p = 0.04) and higher in patients with moderate to severe asthma than in those with mild asthma (p
ISSN:0040-6376
1468-3296
DOI:10.1136/thx.2005.052399