| Research Abstract |
In this study, we investigated (1) functional differences of house dust mite (HDM) -specific T cell lines (TCLs) between asthmatic patient and healthy subject, (2) cytokine production pattern of HDM-specific TCLs propagated in the presence of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) , and finally (3) effect of antiallergic drugs on interleukin 4 (IL-4) production of HDM-specific TCLs established from an asthmatic patient. Whereas TCLs obtained from a non-atopic healthy subject produced no or very low amount of IL-4 on HDM stimulation, all TCLs from a patient with bronchial asthma secreted considerable amount of IL-4 in the culture supernatant. Only few TCLs produced detectable IFN-gamma both in asthmatic patient and healthy subject. Presence of IFN-gamma in the culture to establish HDM-specific TCLs in healthy subject led to decrease in number of IL-4 producing TCLs and increase in number of IFN-gamma producing TCLs. In contrast, same procedure did decline the number of IL-4 producing TCLs in a asthmatic patient but no TCLs produced IFN-gamma.These results indicate that qualitative differences of cytokine production of HDM-specific T cells between asthmatic patient and healthy subject. Anti-allergic drugs (azelastin, ozagrel, pemilorast) , especially azelastin, inhibit IL-4 production from TCLs stimulated with HDM,whereas they did not inhibit proliferation of TCLs to HDM,indicating the possibility of cytokine-specific regulation by some drugs in allergen-driven T cell activation in asthma.
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