F. Purello-d'Ambrosio et al., Effect of fluticasone propionate on interleukin-12 and interferon-gamma production in patients affected by allergic bronchial asthma, J INVES ALL, 9(4), 1999, pp. 262-267
Citations number
21
Categorie Soggetti
Clinical Immunolgy & Infectious Disease
Journal title
JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIONAL ALLERGOLOGY & CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
Fluticasone propionate is a very effective topical treatment for asthma. In
terleukin-12 which is produced by monocyte-macrophage and B lymphocytic cel
l lines, plays an important role in the induction of Th1 cells; whereas int
erferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), mainly produced by Th1 cells, exhibits a crucial
effect on macrophage and natural killer cell activation. Since previous st
udies have demonstrated a reduced production of IL-12 and IFN-gamma in pati
ents with allergic asthma, we examined whether fluticasone propionate thera
py could influence the release of these cytokines in asthma. We selected tw
o groups of subjects (15 per group): nonatopic healthy donors (group A) and
asthmatic patients (group B). Cytokine release was assessed in sera as wel
l as in supernatants of whole blood cultures after IFN-gamma priming and li
popolysaccharide stimulation. Venous blood and spirometric tests from patie
nts in group B were obtained before and after treatment. Fluticasone propio
nate therapy significantly increased interleukin-12 levels in both supernat
ants of blood cultures (1, 152.12 +/- 225.57 vs. 54087 +/- 130.07 pg/ml; P
<0.05) or in sera (72.24 +/- 15.76 vs. 10.83 +/- 270 pg/ml. p <0.05). Patie
nts treated with fluticasone propionate also displayed increased levels of
IFN-gamma in either blood culture supernatants (59.12 +/- 16.88 vs. 18.87 /- 7.53 IU/ml; p <0.05) or in sera (5.60 +/- 2.87 vs. <1 IU/ml; p <0.05). I
n addition, we observed a significant increase in FEV, values in asthmatic
patients after fluticasone propionate therapy (51.86 +/- 5.31 vs. 71.46 +/-
10.37% predicted). We propose that fluticasone propionate may exert at lea
st in part of its antiinflammatory activity through the modulation of the c
ytokine output.