Changes in the Th9 cell population and related cytokines in the peripheral blood of infants with recurrent wheezing

• Published in: Central-European journal of immunology 2020-01, Vol.45 (1), p.60-68
• Main Authors: Liu, Guangliang, Qian, Lei, Xu, Tonghui, Yu, Jianxiu, Li, Ming, Cui, Yubao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Clinical Immunology; Cytokines; Flow cytometry; Hypersensitivity; Infants; Interleukin 10; Interleukin 13; Interleukin 4; Interleukin 5; Interleukin 9; Lymphocytes T; Peripheral blood; Plasma levels; Respiratory tract diseases; th9 cells; Transforming growth factor-b1; Wheezing
• ISSN: 1426-3912; 1644-4124
• DOI: 10.5114/ceji.2020.94683

T helper type 9 (Th9) cells have been shown to play a key role in initiating allergic reactions and promoting airway inflammation. However, to the best of our knowledge, their role has not been analyzed in infants with recurrent wheezing. We performed a case-control study including 34 infants with recurrent wheezing and the same number of healthy infants as controls; all subjects were aged 1- to 3-years-old. The Th9 cell populations in the peripheral blood of these subjects were analyzed using flow cytometry, along with the assessment of Th9- and Th2-related plasma cytokine levels, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17A, and IL-33, and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) using a Luminex 200 immunoassay. Our results indicatedthat infants with recurrent wheezing had higher percentages of Th9 cells (median, 0.69%; range, 0.46-1.08%) as compared to healthy infants (median, 0.25%, range, 0.13-0.36%; p < 0.05). In addition, infants with recurrent wheezing also exhibited higher plasma levels of cytokines IL-4, IL-9, IL-10, IL-33, and TGF-β1. Furthermore, the percentage of Th9 cells was positively correlated with the levels of IL-4 (r = 0.408, p < 0.05) and IL-9 (r = 0.644, p < 0.05) in the peripheral blood of wheezing infants. Our findings suggest that the percentage of Th9 cells is increased in infants with recurrent wheezing; thus, Th9 cells may play an important role in the pathogenesis of recurrent wheezing.