title: Association of the expression of IL-4 and IL-13 genes, IL-4 and IgE serum levels with allergic asthma.
abstract: Immune and inflammatory responses mediated by cytokines, play important roles in the pathophysiology of asthma. These responses are associated with overexpression of Th2 cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-13. These two cytokines use common receptors for signaling that lead to identical immunological effects and regulation of the Th1/Th2 balance. The aim of this study was to determine whether patients with allergic asthma display overexpression of IL-4 and IL-13 genes. Using RT-PCR, we examined the expression of IL-4 and IL-13 genes in twenty asthmatic cases and twenty normal individuals. Total levels of serum IgE and IL-4 were also determined by ELISA method. Expression of IL-13 gene in 70% of patients with allergic asthma was higher than controls (P=0.01). There was no correlation between the expression of IL-13 gene and total level of serum IgE (P=0.07). Expression of IL-4 gene was detected in 30% of the patients and none of the normal individuals as determined by RT-PCR (P=0.01). Mean of serum IgE levels in patients and controls were 84.9 IU/ml and 62.2 IU/ml, respectively. Level of serum IgE was more than 100 IU/ml in 30% of patients (P=0.03). Mean of serum IL-4 levels in patients and controls were 15.73 pg/ml and 13.07 pg/ml, respectively. There was a relation between levels of serum IgE and IL-4 in 73% of cases. The results showed that there was a correlation between the expression of IL-4 gene and the level of serum IL-4. Levels of serum IgE and IL-4 were considerably higher in asthmatics than non-asthmatic controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunogenetics, Immunology Research Centre, Bu-Ali Research Institute, Mashhad, Iran. jtavakkol@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Jalil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tavakkol Afshari
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Farid Hosseini
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hosseini Farahabadi
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Heydarian
authors.forename: Mohammad Hossein
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Boskabady
authors.forename: Rasoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khoshnavaz
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Razavi
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ghayoor Karimiani
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ghasemi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood*; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018793:Interleukin-13; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007073:Immunoglobulin E