Study on cytokine profiles and antigenic determinants of Der p1- specific T cell during immunotherapy in asthmatic children

• Main Authors: Fu, Chi-Ling, 傅麒玲
• Other Authors: Chiang Bor-Luen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1997
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/23032151212534348377

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 免疫學研究所 === 85 === Atopic diseases, such as bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis, are worldwide common diseases with increasing prevalence. In atopic patients, it is characterized by skewed polarization of helper T cell (Th) development toward T helper cells type 2 (Th2) with increased production of interleukin 4 (IL-4) and IL-5, which affect immunoglobulin (Ig) isotype switching toward IgE, and differentiation, growth of eosinophils, respectively. Houst dust mite with the major species Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Der p), is the most important indoor allergen in Taiwan. More than seven types of allergens (Der p 1 to 7) have been identified by molecular biology. Immunotherapy (IT) has been used in clinical practice for treating atopic diseases since the turn of this century. The precise working mechanism, however, remains to be elucidated. Among these proposed mechanisms, decreased production of IL-4 has been documented in patients receiving IT with favorable clinical response. The aim of this study is to in vestigate whether the development of Der p 1-specific Th cell is favorably driven toward Th1 in these patients receiving IT. In addition, T cell antigenic determinants recognized by Der p1-specifc T cell are also determined with twenty-one synthetic peptides covering entire Der p 1 sequence. Der p1 -specific T cells were derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients receiving IT before treatment are at regular intervals thereafter. The cytokine production profile of T cells were determined by intracellular staining of IL-4 and interferon (IFN)-r. The supernatant of T cell culture were also assayed by ELISA for quantitative analysis of IL-4, IL-5, and IFN-r. The results showed no significance change in the percentage of Th1 and Th2 cells after 4-6 months of IT, as compared to the baseline. The Th2 cytokine, namely IL-4 and IL-5, tended to decrease and IFN-r, the Th1 cytokine, tended to increase, although not statistically significant. The antigenic determinant of Th cell did show different pattern before and after IT. Whether these changes of antigenic determinant are caused by the alternation of the ratio of Th1/Th2 remained to be answered with longer followup and more patients enrolled in the study.