Wong C K, Ho C Y, Ko F W, Chan C H, Ho A S, Hui D S, Lam C W
Departments of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong.
Clin Exp Immunol. 2001 Aug;125(2):177-83. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2249.2001.01602.x.
Allergen-reactive T helper type-2 (Th2) cells and proinflammatory cytokines have been suggested to play an important role in the induction and maintenance of the inflammatory cascade in allergic asthma. We compared the plasma concentrations of novel proinflammatory cytokines IL-17 and IL-18, other proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-12, Th2 cytokines IL-10 and IL-13, and intracellular interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and IL-4 in Th cells of 41 allergic asthmatics and 30 sex- and age-matched health control subjects. Plasma cytokines were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Intracellular cytokines were quantified by flow cytometry. Plasma IL-18, IL-12, IL-10, IL-13 concentrations were significantly higher in allergic asthmatic patients than normal control subjects (IL-18: median 228.35 versus 138.72 pg/ml, P < 0.001; IL-12: 0.00 versus 0.00 pg/ml, P = 0.001; IL-10: 2.51 versus 0.05 pg/ml, P < 0.034; IL-13: 119.38 versus 17.89 pg/ml, P < 0.001). Allergic asthmatic patients showed higher plasma IL-17 and IL-6 concentrations than normal controls (22.40 versus 11.86 pg/ml and 3.42 versus 0.61 pg/ml, respectively), although the differences were not statistically significant (P = 0.077 and 0.053, respectively). The percentage of IFN-gamma-producing Th cells was significantly higher in normal control subjects than asthmatic patients (23.46 versus 5.72%, P < 0.001) but the percentage of IL-4 producing Th cells did not differ (0.72 versus 0.79%, P > 0.05). Consequently, the Th1/Th2 cell ratio was significantly higher in normal subjects than asthmatic patients (29.6 versus 8.38%, P < 0.001). We propose that allergic asthma is characterized by an elevation of both proinflammatory and Th2 cytokines. The significantly lower ratio of Th1/Th2 cells confirms a predominance of Th2 cells response in allergic asthma.
变应原反应性辅助性T细胞2型（Th2）和促炎细胞因子被认为在过敏性哮喘炎症级联反应的诱导和维持中起重要作用。我们比较了41例过敏性哮喘患者和30例性别与年龄匹配的健康对照者的血浆中新型促炎细胞因子白细胞介素-17（IL-17）和白细胞介素-18（IL-18）、其他促炎细胞因子白细胞介素-6（IL-6）和白细胞介素-12（IL-12）、Th2细胞因子白细胞介素-10（IL-10）和白细胞介素-13（IL-13）的浓度，以及Th细胞内的干扰素-γ（IFN-γ）和白细胞介素-4的浓度。采用酶联免疫吸附测定法检测血浆细胞因子。通过流式细胞术对细胞内细胞因子进行定量分析。过敏性哮喘患者血浆中IL-18、IL-12、IL-10、IL-13的浓度显著高于正常对照者（IL-18：中位数228.35对138.72 pg/ml，P<0.001；IL-12：0.00对0.00 pg/ml，P = 0.001；IL-10：2.51对0.05 pg/ml，P<0.034；IL-13：119.38对17.89 pg/ml，P<0.001）。过敏性哮喘患者血浆中IL-17和IL-6的浓度高于正常对照者（分别为22.40对11.86 pg/ml和3.42对0.61 pg/ml），尽管差异无统计学意义（分别为P = 0.077和0.053）。正常对照者中产生IFN-γ的Th细胞百分比显著高于哮喘患者（23.46%对5.72%，P<0.001），但产生IL-4的Th细胞百分比无差异（0.72%对0.79%，P>0.05）。因此，正常受试者的Th1/Th2细胞比值显著高于哮喘患者（29.6%对8.38%，P<0.001）。我们提出，过敏性哮喘的特征是促炎细胞因子和Th2细胞因子均升高。Th1/Th2细胞比值显著降低证实了过敏性哮喘中Th2细胞反应占主导地位。
