title: The influence of atopy and asthma on immune responses in inner-city adults.
abstract: Asthma in the inner-city population is usually atopic in nature, and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. However, the underlying immune abnormalities that underlie asthma in urban adults have not been well defined. We investigated the influence of atopy and asthma on cytokine responses of inner-city adult women to define immune abnormalities associated with asthma and atopy. Blood samples were collected from 509 of 606 inner-city women enrolled in the Urban Environment and Childhood Asthma (URECA) study. We tested for associations between atopy and asthma status and cytokine responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells incubated ex vivo with a panel of innate and adaptive immune stimulants. Atopic subjects had heightened Th2 cytokine responses (IL-4, IL-5, IL-13) to cockroach and dust mite antigens, tetanus toxoid, and phytohemagglutinin (P < 0.05 for all). Differences in cytokine responses were greatest in response to stimulation with cockroach and dust mite. In a multivariate analysis, atopy was broadly related to increased Th2-like responses to all antigens and PHA, while asthma was only weakly related to mitogen-induced IL-4 and IL-5 responses. There were few asthma or allergy-related differences in responses to innate stimuli, including IFN-α and IFN-γ responses. In this inner-city adult female population, atopy is associated with enhanced Th2 responses to allergens and other stimuli, and there was little or no additional signal attributable to asthma. In particular, these data indicate that altered systemic interferon and innate immune responses are not associated with allergies and/or asthma in inner-city women.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Public Health University of Wisconsin Madison Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Sujani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kakumanu
authors.affiliation: Division of Federal Systems Rho Inc. Chapel Hill North Carolina.
authors.forename: Katy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jaffee
authors.affiliation: Division of Federal Systems Rho Inc. Chapel Hill North Carolina.
authors.forename: Cynthia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Visness
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Public Health University of Wisconsin Madison Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dresen
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Public Health University of Wisconsin Madison Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore Maryland.
authors.forename: Frank R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Witter
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine Boston University School of Medicine Boston Massachusetts.
authors.forename: George T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine Boston University School of Medicine Boston Massachusetts.
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Cruikshank
authors.affiliation: Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases and the Food Allergy Center Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Wayne G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Shreffler
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children's Hospital St. Louis Missouri.
authors.forename: Leonard B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Bacharier
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine and Public Health University of Wisconsin Madison Wisconsin.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gern
keywords: Adults; asthma; atopy; cytokines; immune responses; immunology; inner‐city; maternal