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Detection of transforming growth factor‐β in sputum from patients with bronchial asthma by eosinophil survival assay and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay
Author(s) -
ADACHI T.,
MOTOJIMA S.,
HIRATA A.,
FUKUDA T.,
KIHARA N.,
MAKINO S.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
clinical and experimental allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.462
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1365-2222
pISSN - 0954-7894
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1996.tb00576.x
Subject(s) - eosinophil , sputum , asthma , medicine , immunology , cytokine , eosinophil cationic protein , interleukin , transforming growth factor , interleukin 5 , antibody , pathology , tuberculosis
Summary Background We have shown that interleukin‐5 (IL‐5) and granulocyte‐macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (GM‐CSF) are present in sputum from patients experiencing acute asthma attacks, by eosinophil survival assay. The viability of guinea‐pig eosinophils was significantly increased in the presence of such sputum extracts after 3 days' culture, and it was inhibited by the addition of anti‐IL‐5 and anti‐GM‐CSF antibodies. However, the contribution of IL‐5 to the increase in eosinophil viabihty was less than expected from the values of IL‐5 measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Therefore, we speculated that something in sputum inhibited the function of IL‐5. Objective Tratnsforming growth factor‐β (TGF‐β) was the only cytokine we tested that inhibited the prolongation of survival of guinea‐pig eosinophils induced by IL‐5. The objective of this study is to detect TGF‐β in the same sputum. Methods Guinea‐pig eosinophils were cultured with or without anti‐TGF‐β antibody in the presence of sputum extracts, and the eosinophil viability was counted after 3 days. Measurement of TGF‐β l in sputum was performed by ELISA. Results Eosinophil viabilities with and without anti‐TGF‐β antibody were 79.7 ± 2.9% and 69.0 ± 2.7%, respectively, and the difference between them was statistically significant ( P < 0.05, n = 9). The concentration of TGF‐β 1 in the sputum was 21.7 ± 3.3 ng/mL (n = 9). Conclusion These observations suggest that TGF‐β is present in sputum from patients with bronchial asthma.