[Expression of neuronal acetylcholine receptor alpha 7 (nAChRalpha7) in peripheral blood CD(4)(+) T lymphocytes from asthmatic children].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between the expression of neuronal acetylcholine receptor alpha 7 (nAChRalpha7) and the role of nAChRalpha7 in the development of asthma by detecting the expression of nAChR alpha7 on CD(4)(+) T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and the level of cytokines IFN-gamma and IL-4 in the blood serum from children with asthma.


METHODS
Thirty patients in the asthma group and 20 healthy children in the normal control group were included. Peripheral blood was collected, and the serum was harvested. The expression of nAChRalpha7 on CD(3)(+) and CD(4)(+) cells were detected by flow cytometry. The levels of IFN-gamma and IL-4 in the serum were detected by ELISA.


RESULTS
The expression of nAChRalpha7 on CD(4)(+) T lymphocytes from children with asthma was higher than that from normal controls (t = 2.53, P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the level of IL-4 in the serum of the asthma group was higher (t = 5.42, P < 0.01) but the level of IFN-gamma was lower (t = 4.11, P < 0.01). There were positive correlation between nAChRalpha7 and IL-4 (r = 0.688, P < 0.01) and negative correlation between nAChRalpha7 and IFN-gamma (r = -0.476, P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
nAChRalpha7 was shown to influence the balance of Th1/Th2 and it may play an important role in the development of asthma.
Chen
Lu-Yuan
LY
Department of Pediatrics, Shandong Rongjun Hospital, Jinan 250013, China.
Liu
Zhi-Gang
ZG
Li
Yu-Hong
YH
Feng
Yi-Zhen
YZ
Wang
Jin-Rong
JR
D001249:Asthma / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000378:metabolism*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor
C579167:Chrna7 protein, human; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma