Rationale: Obesity is associated with increased prevalence and severity of asthma. Adipose tissue macrophages can contribute to the systemic proinflammatory state associated with obesity. However, it remains unknown whether alveolar macrophages have a unique phenotype in overweight/obese patients with asthma. Objectives: We hypothesized that leptin levels would be increased in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from overweight/obese subjects and, furthermore, that leptin would alter the response of alveolar macrophages to bacterial LPS. Methods: Forty-two subjects with asthma and 46 healthy control subjects underwent research bronchoscopy. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from 66 was analyzed for the level of cellular inflammation, cytokines, and soluble leptin. Cultured primary macrophages from 22 subjects were exposed to LPS, leptin, or leptin plus LPS. Cytokines were measured in the supernatants. Measurements and Main Results: Leptin levels were increased in overweight/obese subjects, regardless of asthma status (P ¼ 0.013), but were significantly higher in overweight/obese subjects with asthma. Observed levels of tumor necrosis factor-a were highest in overweight/obese subjects with asthma. Ex vivo studies of primary alveolar macrophages indicated that the response to LPS was most robust in alveolar macrophages from overweight/obese subjects with asthma and that preexposure to high-dose leptin enhanced the proinflammatory response. Leptin alone was sufficient to induce production of proinflammatory cytokines from macrophages derived from overweight/obese subjects with asthma. Conclusions: Ex vivo studies indicate that alveolar macrophages derived from overweight/obese subjects with asthma are uniquely sensitive to leptin. This macrophage phenotype, in the context of higher levels of soluble leptin, may contribute to the pathogenesis of airway disease associated with obesity.Keywords: tumor necrosis factor-a; leptin; innate immunity; lipopolysaccharide; environmental lung disease There is an increased risk of developing asthma in individuals who are overweight and obese (subsequently referred to as overweight/obese) (1-5). The risk of asthma increases steadily with increasing body mass index (BMI) and is higher in women (1, 6). Furthermore, BMI negatively impacts asthma quality of life scores, asthma control scores, severity of exacerbations, and asthma-related hospitalizations (6-9). Together, these studies suggest a role of obesity in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, the mechanisms by which obesity may contribute to airway disease remain poorly understood.Evidence suggests that adipose tissue is metabolically active, participating not only in energy homeostasis but also in inflammation (12). Adipose tissue secretes biologically active cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a and IL-6, as well as adipokines, including leptin, adiponectin, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, and resistin (10, 11). Obesity is associated with systemic inflammation, which is characterized by elevated serum levels of...

Background Rhinovirus (RV) infection in asthma induces varying degrees of airway inflammation (e.g., neutrophils), but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Objective The major goal was to determine the role of genetic variation (e.g., single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs]) of Toll-interacting protein (Tollip) in airway epithelial responses to RV in a type 2 cytokine milieu. Methods DNA from blood of asthmatic and normal subjects was genotyped for Tollip SNP rs5743899 AA, AG and GG genotypes. Human tracheobronchial epithelial (HTBE) cells from donors without lung disease were cultured to determine pro-inflammatory and anti-viral responses to IL-13 and RV16. Tollip knockout and wild-type mice were challenged with house dust mite (HDM) and infected with RV1B to determine lung inflammation and anti-viral response. Results Asthmatic subjects carrying the AG or GG genotype (AG/GG) compared with the AA genotype demonstrated greater airflow limitation. HTBE cells with AG/GG expressed less Tollip. Upon IL-13 and RV16 treatment, cells with AG/GG (versus AA) produced more IL-8 and expressed less anti-viral genes, which was coupled with increased NF-κB activity and decreased expression of LC3, a hallmark of the autophagic pathway. Tollip co-localized and interacted with LC3. Inhibition of autophagy decreased anti-viral genes in IL-13 and RV16 treated cells. Upon HDM and RV1B, Tollip knockout (versus wild-type) mice demonstrated higher levels of lung neutrophilic inflammation and viral load, but lower levels of anti-viral gene expression. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Our data suggest that Tollip SNP rs5743899 may predict varying airway response to RV infection in asthma.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease in which airway epithelial cells are the first line of defense against exposure of the airway to infectious agents. Src homology protein (SHP)-1, a protein tyrosine phosphatase, is a negative regulator of signaling pathways that are critical to the development of asthma and host defense. We hypothesize that SHP-1 function is defective in asthma, contributing to the increased inflammatory response induced by Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a pathogen known to exacerbate asthma. M. pneumoniae significantly activated SHP-1 in airway epithelial cells collected from nonasthmatic subjects by bronchoscopy with airway brushing but not in cells from asthmatic subjects. In asthmatic airway epithelial cells, M. pneumoniae induced significant PI3K/Akt phosphorylation, NF-κB activation, and IL-8 production compared with nonasthmatic cells, which were reversed by SHP-1 overexpression. Conversely, SHP-1 knockdown significantly increased IL-8 production and PI3K/Akt and NF-κB activation in the setting of M. pneumoniae infection in nonasthmatic cells, but it did not exacerbate these three parameters already activated in asthmatic cells. Thus, SHP-1 plays a critical role in abrogating M. pneumoniae-induced IL-8 production in nonasthmatic airway epithelial cells through inhibition of PI3K/Akt and NF-κB activity, but it is defective in asthma, resulting in an enhanced inflammatory response to infection.

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