EVALUATION AND CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF CHEMOKINES AND THEIR SPECIFIC RECEPTORS IN PATIENTS WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA

Abstract

Abstract. A group of patients with bronchial asthma (BA) was under investigation, being classified according to their disease activity, and exacerbation risk factors. We studied expression of specific mRNAs for chemokines and their receptors in nasopharyngeal mucosa (n = 70) and amounts of those chemokines in blood serum (n = 59). In the patients with BA exacerbations after acute respiratory infections, an increased expression of eotaxin, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, CXCR1 mRNAs was observed, along with decreased CCR3 mRNA, as compared to a control group. In blood serum of these patients, a decreased levels of eotaxin and MIP-1β mRNA was accompanied by increase of MIP-1β and eotaxin-2 amounts. For the patients with allergen-provoked BA attacks, an increased expression of eotaxin, eotaxin-2, MIP-1β, CXCR1, CXCR1 was revealed, as well as decreased CCR1 mRNA expression, whereas serum samples showed significantly decreased contents of eotaxin and MIP-1β, along with increase in MIP-1α, RANTES and eotaxin-2 mRNAs. In BA remission state, a decreased mRNA expression was found for eotaxin, CCR1 and CXCR2 was observed, with increased serum contents of MIP-1α, RANTES and eotaxin-2. Hence, the changes of chemokine system detected in BA may be sought as markers of the disease exacerbation, depending on its primary origin, as well as potential biomarkers of the disease itself.

Keywords

• bronchial asthma
• chemokines
• chemokine receptors
• mrna
• biomarkers