title: Parental tobacco smoking is associated with augmented IL-13 secretion in children with allergic asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has been shown to increase symptoms of allergic bronchial asthma, but direct effects on the expression of inflammatory markers have not been demonstrated thus far.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the correlation of ETS exposure with the expression of proinflammatory mediators in airway secretions, including IFN-gamma and IL-12, as well as IL-5 and IL-13, in allergic asthmatic schoolchildren and healthy control subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  By using the nasopharyngeal aspiration technique, airway secretions were collected from 24 atopic children with asthma (age, 6-16 years) and 26 healthy control subjects, and the concentration of cytokines was measured with immunoenzymatic methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IL-13 levels were highly increased in patients with asthma (P < .005), and parental tobacco smoke resulted in a significant increase in airway IL-13 secretion in these children compared with that seen in nonexposed children and healthy control subjects (median, 860 pg/mL vs 242 pg/mL and 125 pg/mL, respectively). Furthermore, a positive correlation between IL-13 levels and serum IgE concentrations (r(s) = 0.55) was found in children with allergic asthma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results indicate that ETS augments the expression and secretion of IL-13 in allergic asthma and that nasopharyngeal aspiration is a suitable method to assess cytokine measurements in airways in children. Measurements of IL-13 in secretions might be taken into account as a noninvasive marker of airway inflammation and to assess the detrimental effects of ETS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Pneumonology and Allergy, The Medical University Children's Hospital, ul Działdowska 1/3, PL-01-184 Warsaw, Poland. wfeleszko@kliniczny.pl
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Feleszko
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zawadzka-Krajewska
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matysiak
authors.forename: Dorota
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lewandowska
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peradzyńska
authors.forename: Q Thai
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Dinh
authors.forename: Eckard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hamelmann
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Groneberg
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kulus
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
chemical_list: D018793:Interleukin-13; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D007371:Interferon-gamma