RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the bronchial mucosa and is associated with excess production of Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5) relative to Th1 cytokine (IFN-V). The NK cell and TNK cell are supposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of allergic inflammation by cytokine regulation. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of allergen (Der p 2) on the production of IFN-V by CD3+T cell, CD56+NK cell and CD3+CD56+TNK cells in patients with mild persistent asthma. METHOD: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with mild persistent asthma (n=12) who were sensitive to dust mite, were cultured with or without Der p 2 for 3 days, and phorbol ester plus calcium ionophore and intracellular protein transport inhibitor were added 4 hours before staining. A three-color flow cytometric analysis was done to detect intracytoplasmic IFN-V, surface DC3 and CD56 antigen simultaneously. RESULTS: When PBMCs were cultured only in media, there were no significant differences in the percentage of IFN-V positive CD3+T cell, CD56+NK cell and CD3+CD56+TNK cells between asthmatic patients and normal subjects. However, there were significant decreases in the percent change of IFN-V positive CD3+T cell, CD56+NK cell and CD3+CD56+TNK cell in asthmatic patients comparde to normal subjects after stimulation of PBMCs with Der p 2. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that NK cell and TNK cell may participate in allergic reaction by IFN-V regulation.