Allergic contact dermatitis: the cellular effectors

Contact hypersensitivity reactions are mediated by lymphocytic effector cells. Until recently it was believed that the most important of these were CD4+ T lymphocytes. However, there is growing evidence that in many instances the predominant effector cell may be a CD8+ T lymphocyte, with in some ins...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contact dermatitis 2002-01, Vol.46 (1), p.1-5
Main Authors: Kimber, Ian, Dearman, Rebecca J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allergic diseases
Biological and medical sciences
CD4+ T lymphocytes
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology
CD8+ T lymphocytes
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology
contact hypersensitivity
Dermatitis, Allergic Contact - immunology
effector cells
General aspects. Methods
Humans
Immunopathology
Medical sciences
Skin allergic diseases. Stinging insect allergies
T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic - immunology
Th1 Cells - immunology
Th2 Cells - immunology
Toxicology
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Summary:Contact hypersensitivity reactions are mediated by lymphocytic effector cells. Until recently it was believed that the most important of these were CD4+ T lymphocytes. However, there is growing evidence that in many instances the predominant effector cell may be a CD8+ T lymphocyte, with in some instances CD4+ cells performing a counter‐regulatory function. Here we review the roles of CD4+ T helper (Th) cells and CD8+ T cytotoxic (Tc) cells, and their main functional subpopulations (respectively, Th1 and Th2 cells and Tc1 and Tc2 cells) in the elicitation of contact hypersensitivity reactions and consider the implications of effector cell selectivity for the biology of allergic contact dermatitis.
ISSN:0105-1873
1600-0536
DOI:10.1034/j.1600-0536.2002.460101.x