Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Allergy. 2023 Nov;78(11):2959-2968. doi: 10.1111/all.15860. Epub 2023 Aug 24.
Mast cells (MCs) develop from a rare population of peripheral blood circulating MC progenitors (MCps). Here, we investigated whether the frequency of circulating MCps is altered in asthma patients sensitized to birch pollen during pollen season, compared to out of season.
Asthma patients were examined during birch pollen season in late April to early June (May), and out of season in November-January. Spirometry measurements, asthma and allergy-related symptoms, asthma control questionnaire (ACQ), and asthma control test (ACT) scores were assessed at both time points. The MCp frequency was determined by flow cytometry in ficoll-separated blood samples from patients with positive birch pollen-specific IgE, and analyzed in relation to basic and disease parameters.
The frequency of MCps per liter of blood was higher in May than in November (p = .004), particularly in women (p = .009). Patients that reported moderate to severe asthma symptoms (<.0001), nose or eye symptoms (p = .02; p = .01), or reduced asthma control (higher ACQ, p = .01) had higher MCp frequency in May than those that did not report this. These associations remained significant after adjusting for sex and BMI. The change in asthma control to a lower ACT score in May correlated with an increase in MCp frequency in May (p = .006, rho = 0.46).
The data suggest that the frequency of MCps increases in symptomatic patients with allergic asthma. Our results unravel a link between asthma symptoms and circulating MCps, and bring new insight into the impact of natural allergen exposure on the expansion of MCs.
肥大细胞（MCs）由外周血中循环的 MC 祖细胞（MCps）的罕见群体发育而来。在这里，我们研究了在花粉季节对桦树花粉过敏的哮喘患者与非花粉季节相比，循环 MCps 的频率是否发生改变。
在四月下旬至六月初（五月）桦树花粉季节和非花粉季节（十一月至一月）对哮喘患者进行检查。在这两个时间点评估肺功能测量、哮喘和过敏相关症状、哮喘控制问卷（ACQ）和哮喘控制测试（ACT）评分。通过流式细胞术测定桦树花粉特异性 IgE 阳性患者ficoll 分离的血液样本中的 MCp 频率，并分析其与基本和疾病参数的关系。
五月时每升血液中的 MCps 频率高于十一月（p=0.004），尤其是女性（p=0.009）。报告有中度至重度哮喘症状（<.0001）、鼻子或眼睛症状（p=0.02；p=0.01）或哮喘控制降低（更高的 ACQ，p=0.01）的患者，其五月时的 MCp 频率高于未报告这些症状的患者。这些关联在调整性别和 BMI 后仍然显著。五月时 ACT 评分降低导致哮喘控制恶化，与五月时 MCp 频率增加相关（p=0.006，rho=0.46）。
数据表明，在过敏哮喘的有症状患者中，MCps 的频率增加。我们的结果揭示了哮喘症状与循环 MCps 之间的联系，并为自然过敏原暴露对 MC 扩张的影响提供了新的见解。
