EVALUATION OF THE INTERFERON SYSTEMAND MAJOR CYTOKINES IN PATIENTS WITHBRONCHIAL ASTHMA

Aim. Study of the interferon system (IFN)
and the production of major cytokines in patients
with bronchial asthma of various course severity.
Materials and methods. 204 patients with
atopic bronchial asthma (BA); 32 patients with
allergic rhinitis (AR) and 93 mostly healthy
volunteers were examined. Blood cells of patients
with BA of various course severity were
studied by biological method in HEP cell culture
for the ability to produce IFN. Levels of cytokines
in the blood sera were determined by
EIA method with the corresponding commercial
test systems: IL-4, IL-10, IL-13 and IFN-ƒ
according to user manual. Results. Disorders in
the ability of leukocytes to produce IFN-ƒ and
IFN-ƒ were detected in patients with bronchial
asthma and allergic rhinitis. Misbalance in the
production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines
depending on the level of disease severity
was noted. The highest serum IFN-ƒ was
noticed in patients with mild persistence BA
course, that is most probably determined by
higher frequency of ARVI in this group of patients.
Maximum level of IL-10 was detected in
mild BA form and was nearly undetected in the
severe course of the infection, which is characterized
by higher content of IL-4 in blood sera.
Conclusion. Increase of course severity of
chronic (allergic) inflammation in bronchial
tissue and higher frequency of ARVI among
patients with persistent BA of medium and severe
course is characterized by a lack of interferon
link of the immune system and disorders of
regulatory mechanisms, that is expressed by a
change in the ratio of IFN-ƒ/IL-4 parameters
and decrease of IL-10 content in blood sera.

bronchial asthma, interferons, cytokines