The Profile of the Cytokines Secreted During the Generation of T-Helper Cells from Atopic Asthmatic Subjects

Abstract

This study investigated cytokine release by T-cell lines from atopic and nonatopic individuals in the presence of specific aeroallergen. Cell lines from atopic and nonatopic individuals secreted IL-2 for less than 14 and more than 21 days, respectively. All of the atopic, but not the nonatopic, cell lines exhibited a biphasic peak in IL-4 and IL-5 secretion. Flow cytometry revealed that, after 35 days, 89.3% of the atopic cells were T helpers and 73.2% were activated. Only 7.4% of the nonatopic cells displayed activation markers. In conclusion, T-cell differentiation may be controlled by other factors in addition to stimulation by aeroallergens.

Beclomethasone Decreases Elevations in Phosphodiesterase Activity in Human T Lymphocytes

“…Thereafter, allergen, IL-2 and feeder cells were added on a weekly basis until the cells were harvested after 30 days. At this point, the cells were expressing an activated Th2 cell phenotype [22]. After removal of nonviable cells, the Th2 lines (n = 7) were treated with various concentrations of beclomethasone, as above, and frozen for future PDE activity analysis.…”

“…PBMC were purified by Ficoll-Hypaque centrifugation, washed and suspended in RPMI-1640 supplemented with 1.7 m M L -glutamine, 0.087 m M nonessential amino acids, 0.87 m M sodium pyruvate, penicillin (100 U/ml) and streptomycin (100 µg/ml) (media additives, MA) and either 5% human serum for long-term growth into Th2 lines [22]or 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) from Atlanta Biologicals (Atlanta, Ga., USA) for studies conducted with CD4+ cells. Monocytes were allowed to adhere for 2 h at 37°C in RPMI-1640/MA/FCS.…”