Results SA subjects harbor more IFN-γ + CD4+ T cells in their airways compared with MMA subjects. A total of 66 subjects, 33 classified with MMA and 33 classified with SA, were included in this study; details of patient characteristics are included in Table 1. Of note, biological samples, such as cells in BAL fluid used for differential cell counts and cytokine expression, were analyzed from a subset of these subjects based on availability, as described in each figure legend. Since the recovery of BAL Severe asthma (SA) is a challenge to control, as patients are not responsive to high doses of systemic corticosteroids (CS). In contrast, mild-moderate asthma (MMA) is responsive to low doses of inhaled CS, indicating that Th2 cells, which are dominant in MMA, do not solely orchestrate SA development. Here, we analyzed broncholalveolar lavage cells isolated from MMA and SA patients and determined that IFN-γ (Th1) immune responses are exacerbated in the airways of individuals with SA, with reduced Th2 and IL-17 responses. We developed a protocol that recapitulates the complex immune response of human SA, including the poor response to CS, in a murine model. Compared with WT animals, Ifng -/-mice subjected to this SA model failed to mount airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) without appreciable effect on airway inflammation. Conversely, AHR was not reduced in Il17ra -/-mice, although airway inflammation was lower. Computer-assisted pathway analysis tools linked IFN-γ to secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI), which is expressed by airway epithelial cells, and IFN-γ inversely correlated with SLPI expression in SA patients and the mouse model. In mice subjected to our SA model, forced SLPI expression decreased AHR in the absence of CS, and it was further reduced when SLPI was combined with CS. Our study identifies a distinct immune response in SA characterized by a dysregulated IFN-γ/SLPI axis that affects lung function.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are integral to differentiation of T helper cells into Th1, Th2 and Th17

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464haematologica | 2013; 98(3)The intensity of hemolytic anemia has been proposed as an independent risk factor for the development of certain clinical complications of sickle cell disease, such as pulmonary hypertension, hypoxemia and cutaneous leg ulceration. A composite variable derived from several individual markers of hemolysis could facilitate studies of the underlying mechanisms of hemolysis. In this study, we assessed the association of hemolysis with outcomes in sickle cell anemia. A hemolytic component was calculated by principal component analysis from reticulocyte count, serum lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase and total bilirubin concentrations in 415 hemoglobin SS patients. Association of this component with direct markers of hemolysis and clinical outcomes was assessed. As primary validation, both plasma red blood cell microparticles and cell-free hemoglobin concentration were higher in the highest hemolytic component quartile compared to the lowest quartile (P≤0.0001 for both analyses). The hemolytic component was lower with hydroxyurea therapy, higher hemoglobin F, and alpha-thalassemia (P≤0.0005); it was higher with higher systemic pulse pressure, lower oxygen saturation, and greater values for tricuspid regurgitation velocity, left ventricular diastolic dimension and left ventricular mass (all P<0.0001). Two-year follow-up analysis showed that a high hemolytic component was associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio, HR 3.44; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.2-9.5; P=0.02). The hemolytic component reflects direct markers of intravascular hemolysis in patients with sickle cell disease and allows for adjusted analysis of associations between hemolytic severity and clinical outcomes. These results confirm associations between hemolytic rate and pulse pressure, oxygen saturation, increases in Doppler-estimated pulmonary systolic pressures and mortality (Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00492531). The relationship between the severity of hemolysis, clinical manifestations and risk of death in 415 patients with sickle cell anemia in the US and Europe

Usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) is a specific histopathologic pattern of interstitial lung fibrosis that may be idiopathic or secondary to autoimmune diseases and environmental exposures. In this study, we compared gene expression patterns in primary fibroblasts isolated from lung tissues with UIP histology and fibroblasts isolated from lung tissues with normal histology using expression microarrays. We found that WNT5A was significantly increased in fibroblasts obtained from UIP lung tissues compared with normal lung fibroblasts, an observation verified by quantitative real-time RT-PCR and Western blot. Because the role of WNT5A in UIP is unknown, we treated normal lung fibroblasts or UIP lung fibroblasts with WNT5A, and found that WNT5A increased proliferation as well as relative resistance to H 2 O 2 -induced apoptosis. This effect was not mediated through the canonical WNT/b-catenin pathway, as WNT5A induced a decrease in b-catenin levels in the same cells. In addition, WNT5A induced increases in fibronectin and a 5 -integrin in normal lung fibroblasts. Collectively, our data suggest that WNT5A may play a role in fibroblast expansion and survival characteristics of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other fibrotic interstitial lung diseases that exhibit UIP histological patterns.

Immune tolerance is instituted early in life, during which time regulatory T (Treg) cells have an important role. Recurrent infections with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in early life increase the risk for asthma in adult life. Repeated infection of infant mice tolerized to ovalbumin (OVA) through their mother’s milk with RSV induced allergic airway disease in response to OVA sensitization and challenge, including airway inflammation, hyper-reactivity and higher OVA-specific IgE, as compared to uninfected tolerized control mice. Virus infection induced GATA-3 expression and T helper type 2 (TH2) cytokine production in forkhead box P3 (FOXP3)+ Treg cells and compromised the suppressive function of pulmonary Treg cells in a manner that was dependent on interleukin-4 receptor α (IL-4Rα) expression in the host. Thus, by promoting a TH2-type inflammatory response in the lung, RSV induced a TH2-like effector phenotype in Treg cells and attenuated tolerance to an unrelated antigen (allergen). Our findings highlight a mechanism by which viral infection targets a host-protective mechanism in early life and increases susceptibility to allergic disease.

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Polymorphisms in TIM-1, a member of the T cell Ig and mucin (TIM) domain family, are associated with relative susceptibility to the development of T helper 2-dominated immune responses such as in allergic asthma. Recent data have also suggested that ligation of TIM-1 can augment T cell activation. We have found that the TIM-1 protein is expressed on CD4 ؉ T cells in vivo after intranasal immunization. Ectopic expression of TIM-1 during T cell differentiation results in a significant increase in the number of cells producing IL-4 but not IFN-␥. Furthermore, TIM-1 expression provides a costimulatory signal that increases transcription from the IL-4 promoter and from isolated nuclear factor of activated T cells͞activating protein-1 (NFAT͞AP-1) elements. Finally, we provide evidence that TIM-1 can be phosphorylated on tyrosine and that TIM-1 costimulation requires its cytoplasmic tail and the conserved tyrosine within that domain. These results constitute evidence that TIM-1 directly couples to phosphotyrosine-dependent intracellular signaling pathways.costimulation ͉ phosphorylation ͉ asthma ͉ cytokines