Atopic Patients Show Increased Interleukin 4 Plasma Levels but the Degree of Elevation Is Not Sufficient to Upregulate Interleukin-4-Sensitive Genes.
Skin Pharmacol Physiol 2019;
32:192-200. [PMID:
31096247 DOI:
10.1159/000499431]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 03/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Atopic diseases constitute a major health challenge for industrialized countries, and elevated levels of interleukin 4 (IL-4) frequently characterize these disorders. Previous in vitroanalyses have indicated that IL-4 strongly upregulates the expression of IL-4-sensitive genes in human monocytes.
OBJECTIVE
To explore whether similar expression alterations may contribute to the pathomechanisms of atopic diseases in vivo we carried out a small-scale case-control clinical study (n = 43), in which we quantified the plasma levels of IgE and IL-4 as well as the expression of selected IL-4-sensitive genes in blood leukocytes.
METHODS
34 allergic patients suffering from allergic rhinitis (n = 11), atopic eczema (n = 11) and allergic asthma (n = 12) as well as 9 healthy control individuals were recruited. IgE and IL-4 plasma levels were determined by ELISA, and the expression of selected IL-4-sensitive gene products in blood leukocytes was quantified by qRT-PCR. In addition, the fatty acid oxygenase activity of isolated monocytes was measured by RP-HPLC analysis of the arachidonic acid oxygenation products (ex vivo activity assays).
RESULTS
We found that plasma levels of IgE and IL-4 were significantly elevated in atopic patients but the degree of elevation was not sufficient to upregulate the expression of the selected IL-4-sensitive genes in circulating leukocytes. Moreover, the arachidonic acid oxygenase activity of blood monocytes was not significantly altered in atopic patients.
CONCLUSION
Our data suggest that the IL-4 plasma levels of atopic patients are not high enough to impact the expression of IL-4-sensitive genes.
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