Abstract
BackgroundEmerging data suggest that innate immunity may play a role in asthma, particularly the toll-like receptors (TLRs). Some studies pointed to an involvement of TLRs 2 and 4 in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma, and other studies related TLRs to IgE. However, there are not any studies that have comprehensively evaluated the expression of TLRs 2 and 4 in inflammatory cells, in peripheral blood and induced sputum specimens from asthmatic patients, according to their total serum IgE.MethodsWe studied 44 asthmatic patients (15 with high total serum IgE and 29 with normal total serum IgE). On a single visit, all patients underwent: induced sputum, pulmonary function tests, determination of exhaled nitric oxide fraction, venipuncture for blood analysis and skin prick allergy tests. The induced sputum cellularity was analyzed by flow cytometry, where expression of TLRs 2 and 4 was studied using fluorochrome-conjugated monoclonal antibodies.ResultsAsthmatic patients with high total serum IgE showed, a higher percentage of macrophages expressing TLR4 (42.99 % ± 22.49) versus asthmatic patients with normal total serum IgE (28.84 % ± 15.16) (P = 0.048). Furthermore, we observed a correlation (but weak) between the percentage of macrophages expressing TLR4 in induced sputum and the total serum IgE level (R = 0.314; P = 0.040).ConclusionAsthmatic subjects with high total serum IgE show increased macrophage expression of TLR4 in induced sputum. This outcome may result from a link between innate immunity and IgE-mediated, adaptive immune responses in asthma, and point to TLR4 as a potential therapeutic target.
Highlights
Emerging data suggest that innate immunity may play a role in asthma, the toll-like receptors (TLRs)
The main objective of the present study was to assess the expression of TLRs 2 and 4 in monocytes/macrophages and neutrophils, both from peripheral blood and induced sputum, in a group of adult asthmatic patients stratified by their level of total serum IgE
Among the subjects classed as asthmatic patients with a normal level of total IgE, 53.57 % showed a positive skin prick test
Summary
Emerging data suggest that innate immunity may play a role in asthma, the toll-like receptors (TLRs). IgE plays a prominent role in the pathophysiology of allergic asthma. Several strategies for decreasing IgE have been developed as a possible treatment for TLRs are a family of cell surface proteins involved in the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). TLR2 and 4 are expressed on the cellular surface and migrate to Crespo-Lessmann et al Respiratory Research (2016) 17:41 phagosomes after activation on recognising the ligand. Just because these receptors are expressed on the cellular surface makes them easy to measure. Our laboratory has expertise in measuring them [6]
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