Aberrant Expression of Novel Cytokine IL 38 and Regulatory T Lymphocytes in Childhood Asthma
We investigated the expression of novel anti inflammatory interleukin (IL) 38 and regulatory T (Treg) lymphocytes in childhood asthma patients. The protein and mRNA expression level of IL 38, periostin, peripheral CD4+CD25+CD134+ T lymphocytes as well as CD4+CD25highFoxP3+ and CD4+CD25highCD127 Treg lymphocytes from 40 asthmatic patients and 20 normal control (NC) subjects were studied using ELISA, qPCR and flow cytometry. Serum and supernatant cytokines/chemokines were determined by multiplex assay. Serum IL 38, IL 5, IL 17, IL 6, interferon g, periostin, IL 1b and IL 13 concentrations were significantly higher in asthmatic patients with or without steroid treatment than those in controls (all p 0.05) The percentages of both CD4+CD25highFoxP3+ and CD4+CD25highCD127 Treg lymphocytes were markedly decreased in asthmatic patients with and without steroid treatment than those in controls (all p 0.05) The elevated IL 38 concentration negatively correlated with the percentage of Treg lymphocytes in asthmatic patients with high level >40 ng/mL) of periostin (p 0.05) Although the comparable mRNA levels of IL 38 and its receptor IL 36R were found between patients and controls, the mRNA level of IL 38 positively correlated with IL 36R and negatively correlated with IL 10 in all asthmatic patients (both p 0.05) The percentage of CD4+CD25+CD134+ activated T lymphocytes was also significantly higher in asthmatic patients with steroid treatment than those in controls (p 0.05) This cross sectional study demonstrated that the overexpression of circulating IL 38 may play a role in the immunopathogenesis in asthma.
Molecules