Predominant T sub(H1) cytokine pattern in peripheral blood from subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• Published in: Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 1999-03, Vol.103 (3), p.458-462
• Main Authors: Majori, M, Corradi, M, Caminati, A, Cacciani, G, Bertacco, S, Pesci, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0091-6749

Previous studies have provided evidence for an inflammatory process in the large airways of subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), consisting predominantly of activated T cells. No data are available on the T sub(H1)/T sub(H2) T-cell cytokine pattern in this disease. We sought to characterize the T sub(H1)/T sub(H2) T-cell cytokine pattern in subjects with COPD. We examined the IFN- gamma and IL-4 expression in peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from 20 patients with COPD and 25 control subjects by using a flow cytometric method of intracellular cytokine detection. We also examined the expression of 2 surface activation markers (CD25 and HLA-DR) on peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. There was an increased percentage of IFN- gamma -producing cells (30.3% [range, 12.9% to 60.4%] vs 19.1% [range, 4% to 31.2%], P = .003) and a decreased percentage of IL-4-producing cells (4.55% [range, 0.6% to 11.3%] vs 9.5% [2.1% to 21.3%], P = .0008) among peripheral blood CD4+ T cells from the patients with COPD compared with control subjects. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the percentage of peripheral blood CD8+ T cells producing IFN- gamma or IL-4 or in the percentage of peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing CD25 and HLA-DR. These findings provide evidence for a T sub(H1)-like immune response of peripheral blood CD4+ T cells in subjects with COPD.