title: Cytokine messenger RNA expression for IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, and granulocyte/macrophage-colony-stimulating factor in the nasal mucosa after local allergen provocation: relationship to tissue eosinophilia.
abstract: Tissue eosinophilia is characteristic of human atopic allergic inflammation, although the mechanism is largely unknown. In this study we test the hypothesis that eosinophil infiltration during allergen-provoked rhinitis in hayfever sufferers may occur as a consequence of activation of a population of cells having a characteristic cytokine profile equivalent to the murine Th lymphocyte Th2 subset. Biopsies of the nasal inferior turbinate were obtained from 10 grass pollen-sensitive patients 24 h after local nasal provocation with allergen and after a control challenge with the allergen diluent. Biopsies were divided into two and subsequently processed for in situ hybridization using 35S-labeled RNA probes for selected cytokines and for immunohistology using an eosinophil granule mAb (EG2) which recognizes secreting eosinophils. At allergen-challenged sites compared with control sites there were significant increases in mRNA+ cells for IL-3 (p less than 0.04), IL-4 (p = 0.01), IL-5 (p = 0.02) and granulocyte/macrophage-CSF (p = 0.03). In contrast, only occasional hybridization signals were observed for IL-2 and IFN-gamma at both allergen and control sites. After allergen there was an increase (p = 0.01) in EG2+ eosinophils and significant correlations were observed between EG2+ cells and mRNA expression for "Th2-type" cytokines, particularly IL-5 (r = 0.90, p less than 0.0001). These results demonstrate that recruitment of eosinophils during human allergen-induced rhinitis is associated with cells expressing mRNA for IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, and granulocyte/macrophage-CSF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, National Heart & Lung Institute, London, England, U.K.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Durham
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Varney
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Sudderick
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Mackay
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Kay
authors.forename: Q A
authors.initials: QA
authors.lastname: Hamid
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004802:Eosinophilia / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007377:Interleukin-3 / Q000235:genetics*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000235:genetics*; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007377:Interleukin-3; D015848:Interleukin-5; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D015847:Interleukin-4; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor