Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Effect of immunotherapy on T lymphocyte subsets, FOXP3 and IFN-?/IL-4 ratio in children with allergic asthma

Yanrui Zhang¹, Lei Li², Rong Wang³, Jingjing Wang⁴, Jing Yuan⁵

¹Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, PR China; ²Department of Emergency, Qingdao Women and Children’s Hospital (QWCH), Qingdao, PR China; ³Department of Laboratory, Qingdao Central Hospital, Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China; ⁴Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, PR China; ⁵Department of NICU, Qingdao Women's and Children's Hospital, Qingdao, PR China.

For correspondence:- Jing Yuan Email: jnh8966@126.com Tel:+8618209921821

Accepted: 9 September 2020 Published: 30 July 2021

Citation: Zhang Y, Li L, Wang R, Wang J, Yuan J. Effect of immunotherapy on T lymphocyte subsets, FOXP3 and IFN-?/IL-4 ratio in children with allergic asthma. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(7):1529-1533 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i7.29

© 2021 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To study the effect of specific immunotherapy on T lymphocyte subsets, FOXP3 and IFN-γ/IL-4 in children with allergic asthma (AA).

Methods 57 AA children were selected and received the allergen specific immunotherapy, thereafter, the T lymphocyte subsets, FOXP3 and IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio were measured at three time points, before treatment, after 1yr and 2yr of treatment. Then the clinical efficacy after 2yr was recorded.

Results The pre- and post- treatment percentages of CD4 ⁺ CD25 ⁺ T cells in CD4⁺ T cells had no difference (P>0.05). The proportion of CD4 ⁺ CD25 ^highT cells in CD4⁺ T was significantly increased after 1yr and 2yr of treatment (P<0.05), the difference between that after 1yr and 2yr of treatment was not significant. The relative expression of FOXP3 at three time points in a descending order was after 1yr, 2yr of treatment and pre-treatment (P<0.05). The relative IFN-γ expression after 1yr of treatment increased and returned to pre-treatment level after 2yr of treatment; IL-4 expression levels decreased as the treatment time extended; The IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio at three time points in a descending order was after 1yr, 2yr of treatment and pretreatment (P<0.05). The levels of IL-4 and IFN-γ in the children increased significantly as treatment time extended (P<0.05), and became stable after 1yr and 2yr of treatment, while the concentration of IL-4 showed a decrease trend (P<0.05), also tended to be stable after 1yr and 2yr of treatment. The clinical efficacy after 2yr of treatment was 87.72%.

Conclusion This study has revealed that FOXP3, IFN-γ, and IL-4 have significant roles FOXP3 in the process of specific immunotherapy for children with allergic asthma. Further studies are needed to explore the mechanism.

Keywords: Specific immunotherapy; Allergic asthma; T lymphocyte subsets; FOXP3; IFN-?/IL-4