The effect of house dust mite conventional immunotherapy on the production of IL-4 and interferon-gamma from the peripheral blood T cells in asthmatic children

Hong, Soo Jong; Kim, Bong Seong

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Numerous clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of specific allergen immunotherapy in allergic disease. Although allergen immunotherapy has been shown to cause changes in numerous clinical, inflammatory, and immunological parameters, the mechanisms of successful immunotherapy are still poorly understood.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the mechanism of conventional immunotherapy in house dust mite sensitive asthmatics, cellular proliferative responses and cytokine productions of peripheral blood T cells were compared before and after immunotherapy.
METHODS
Nine patients who were sensitive to house dust mite participated in the immunotherapy with Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae. Patients were evaluated before and when maintenance was achieved for lymphocyte proliferative responses and for cytokine productions under the stimulation of Der p 1 and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) + 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-12-acetate (TPA), and without stimulation.
RESULTS
Conventional immunotherapy for house dust mite resulted in significant increase in interferon-gamma production, particularly under the stimulation of Der p 1 and without any stimulation after immunotherapy, but no differences under the stimulation of PHA+TPA. And the cellular proliferative responses to the dose of Der p 1 were not decreased after immunotherapy.
CONCLUSION
Conventional immunotherapy resulted in significant increase in interferon-gamma production to the response of Der p 1 specifically after immunotherapy. These findings suggest that the specificity and the mechanism of conventional immunotherapy may be linked to the increase in interferon-gamma production, possibly through increase in Th1 cells.