title: Upregulated thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor expression in children with asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) plays an important role in pathogenesis in patients with asthma. However, the role of thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor (TSLPR) and correlation with IL-7Rα and clinical severity in asthmatic or nonasthmatic children remain unclear. We investigated TSLPR and IL-7Rα mRΝΑ levels in asthma and nonasthma and assessed TSLPR expression in children who were sensitive to mites.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled asthmatic and nonasthmatic children. To minimize the influence of allergy, we also divided participants into following 4 groups: nonallergic and nonasthmatic group (NN) (healthy children), allergic but nonasthmatic group (AN), nonallergic but asthmatic group (NA) and allergic asthmatic group (AA). We drew blood samples to check total IgE, allergen-specific IgE and TSLP and measured the expression of the TSLPR and IL-7Rα genes using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and real-time PCR. Asthma symptom score was also recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thymic stromal lymphopoietin and TSLPR levels were found to be significantly higher in asthmatic than in nonasthmatic children. The levels of TSLP were found to be significantly different between AA and NN groups (P < 0·05). TSLPR expression in NA and AA groups was found to be significantly higher than in NN group (P < 0·05). TSLPR did not differ significantly between NA and AA groups. The TSLPR expression correlated strongly with IL-7Rα and weakly with mite-specific IgE. Clinical asthmatic severity of children was found to exert no influence on TSLPR level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thymic stromal lymphopoietin receptor might be a significant disease biomarker for asthma. The levels of TSLPR were found to be higher in asthmatic patients than in healthy children, but were found to be not different between allergic and nonallergic asthmatic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sheng-Chieh
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Research, Fooyin University Hospital, Pingtung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jian-Jhang
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, National Cheng Kung University Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan.|Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National Cheng Kung University Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jiu-Yao
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.|School of Respiratory Therapy, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsiao-Chi
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Bor-Luen
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, National Formosa University, Yunlin, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Ling
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Ye
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008925:Mites / Q000276:immunology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020395:Receptors, Interleukin-7 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015854:Up-Regulation; D000094632:Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin
chemical_list: C498762:CRLF2 protein, human; D016207:Cytokines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018121:Receptors, Cytokine; D020395:Receptors, Interleukin-7; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D000094632:Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin
keywords: Allergy; IL-7Rα; TSLPR; asthma; mite-sensitive