title: CD8 and CD103 are highly expressed in asthmatic bronchial intraepithelial lymphocytes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although characteristics of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) in mucosal immunity have been well defined in the intestine, bronchial IELs have been little investigated. Recently, we showed that bronchial IELs have a distinct function that partly resembles that of intestinal IELs; however, surface antigen expression of bronchial IELs and the relationship of that expression to airway disease have not been studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed phenotypic profiles of human bronchial IELs and lamina propria lymphocytes (LPLs) by double-staining immunohistochemistry using full-thickness bronchial specimens (10 nonasthmatic controls and 7 asthmatics) from lung resections.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In controls, the percentage of CD4+ cells was lower, and the percentage of CD8+ cells was higher in IELs compared to LPLs (CD4: median 50.0% in IELs vs. 65.9% in LPLs, p = 0.01; CD8: 50.9% in IELs vs. 34.4% in LPLs, p = 0.007). The percentage of cells positive for CD103 (αE-integrin) was higher in IELs than that in LPLs (median 60.1% in IELs vs. 16.9% in LPLs; p < 0.001). In IELs from asthmatics, these characteristics were particularly significant (CD4: median 26.2%, p = 0.008; CD8: 79.8%, p = 0.007; CD103: 76.2%, p = 0.019; all compared with IELs from nonasthmatics).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that human bronchial IELs have roles distinct from subsets of other lymphocytes, and that CD8+ cells and CD103+ cells have potentially important functions in the bronchial epithelium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Honjo, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirosako
authors.forename: Eisuke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsumori
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ando
authors.forename: Hirotsugu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kohrogi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis*; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology*; D001980:Bronchi / Q000276:immunology*; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D039001:Integrin alpha Chains / Q000032:analysis*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000276:immunology; D012907:Smoking / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D039001:Integrin alpha Chains; C091367:alpha E integrins