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Expression of interleukin (IL)‐4 and IL‐5 proteins in asthma induced by toluene diisocyanate (TDI)
Author(s) -
MAESTRELLI P.,
OCCARI P.,
TURATO G.,
PAPIRIS S. A.,
STEEANO A.,
MAPP C. E.,
MILANI G. F.,
EABBRI L. M.,
SAETTA M.
Publication year - 1997
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.1365-2222.1997.tb01174.x
Subject(s) - toluene diisocyanate , immunology , asthma , interleukin , toluene , medicine , chemistry , cytokine , organic chemistry , polyurethane
Summary Background TDI‐induced asthma exhibits clinical, functional and morphological similarities with allergen‐induced asthma, suggesting that an immunological mechanism is involved in the sensitization to TDL In vitro studies using the technique of cloning lymphocytes demonstrated that a great proportion of T‐cell clones derived from bronchial mucosa of subjects with TDI‐induced asthma produced IL‐5 and interferon‐gamma, but not IL‐4, upon in vitro stimulation. Objectives To investigate in vivo the role of IL‐4 and IL‐5 on the inflammatory response of the bronchial mucosa to TDI in sensitized subjects, we performed a quantitative analysis of bronchial biopsies. Methods We obtained bronchial biopsies from six subjects with TDI asthrha 48 h after an asthmatic reaction induced by TDI challenge (challenged group), in six subjects with TDI asthma 1–4 weeks after the last exposure to TDI (chronic group), and in six non‐asthmatic controls. The number of eosinophils, mast cells, T‐lymphocytes, and IL‐4 and IL‐5 protein positive cells was determined by immunohistochemistry in the area 100 μn beneath the epithelial basement membrane. Results The characteristic increase of submucosal eosinophils, but not of mast cells and T‐lymphocytes, was observed in the subjects with TDI‐induced asthma when compared with controls. No differences were detected between the two groups of asthmatics. In the subjects with TDI‐induced asthma, cell immunoreactivity for IL‐5 was increased when compared with normal controls. There was no difference in the expression of IL‐5 protein between challenged and chronic asthmatics. In contrast, the expression of IL‐4 protein was increased only in the asthmatic subjects tested after recent exposure to TDI. Conclusions We demonstrated that TDI asthma 48 h after specific bronchial challenge was associated with increased numbers of cells expressing IL‐4 and IL‐5, whereas chronic TDI asthma was associated with increased expression of IL‐5, but not of IL‐4. The results suggest that subjects who developed TDI asthma exhibit increased production of IL‐5 even in the absence of a recent trigger by the exogenous sensitizer and that production of TH 2 ‐like cytokines in TDI‐induced asthma may not always be co‐ordinately regulated in vivo .