title: Interleukin-10 and interleukin-5 balance in patients with active asthma, those in remission, and healthy controls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The immunological mechanisms of asthma remission remain unclear although several reports have suggested that balance between T helper (Th) 2 cytokines and regulatory cytokines is related.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the balance between interleukin (IL) 10 and IL-5 in asthma clinical remission.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured the numbers of IL-5 and IL-10 producing cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with mite antigen obtained from patients with active asthma (group A, n = 18), patients in clinical remission (group R, n = 15) and nonatopic healthy controls (group H, n = 14).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The numbers of IL-5 producing cells in groups A and R were significantly higher than in group H. The number of IL-5 producing cells was lower in group R than in group A, although the difference was not statistically significant. The number of IL-10 producing cells was higher in group R than in group A, although again the difference was not statistically significant. There was a significant difference in the number of IL-10 producing cells between groups A and H but not between groups R and H. The ratio of the number of IL-10 to IL-5 producing cells was highest in group H followed by groups R and A, and the differences were statistically significant for each pair of groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that the IL-10/IL-5 balance is related to clinical asthma. The balance differs between patients in clinical remission and healthy controls, suggesting that allergic inflammation may continue even after clinical asthma remission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
authors.forename: Minako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomiita
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Campos-Alberto
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture 663-8131, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shima
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Namiki
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy, Chiba Aoba Municipal Hospital, Chiba 260-8722, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Shimoshizu National Hospital, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Shimoshizu National Hospital, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Shimoshizu National Hospital, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sekine
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Shimoshizu National Hospital, Chiba 284-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishimuta
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kohno
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimojo
keywords: Asthma; Child; Interleukin-10; Interleukin-5; Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell; Prognosis