Chonnam Med J.
2003 Jun;39(2):61-65.
BCG Immunomodulation Therapy in Asthma
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Allergy, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea. ischoi@chonnam.ac.kr
- 2Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, Korea.
Abstract
- Asthma is well known to be a Th2-associated disease. Since Th1 and Th2 cells are reciprocally regulated, several studies using animal asthma models have shown to reverse the Th2 response into a protective Th1 response. Bacille Calmette-Gurin (BCG) vaccination in humans induces Th1 responses. Therefore, a clinical study on effects of BCG vaccination in asthmatic patients was performed and demonstrated that it improved lung function and reduced medication use, which was accompanied by a suppressed Th2-type immune response. Even if the Th2 paradigm is too simple to explain the whole story on the therapeutic effects of BCG vaccination in asthma, this new conceptual approach to asthma - i.e., a selective Th2 immunomodulation therapy - will lead development of much more effective therapeutic modalities in the future. In this review I examine the theoretical basis of strategies including BCG vaccination that interfere with Th2 cell function.
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