ABSTRACT
Allergic rhinitis (AR) is one of the common disorders in airway allergic inflammation. The pathogenesis of AR is unclear. It is accepted that immune deregulation is associated with the pathogenesis of AR. Recent reports suggest that a large number of micro RNAs (miR) can regulate immune functions. This study aims to investigate the role of miR-146a in an enforcing immunotherapy of AR. In this study, a mouse AR model was created. The levels of miR-146a in the mouse nasal mucosa were assessed by real time RT-PCR. A specific immunotherapy was performed in AR mice. The results showed that the AR mice had an AR-like inflammation in the nasal mucosa. Compared with naïve mice, markedly lower levels of miR-146a were detected in AR mice. The co-administration with miR-146a significantly enforced the effect of ovalbumin (OVA)-specific immunotherapy on inhibition of AR inflammation in the nasal mucosa. Further analysis showed that miR-146a induced transforming growth factor-ß in dendritic cells; the latter induced naïve CD4(+) T cells to differentiate into regulatory T cells. In conclusion, miR-146a can enforce OVA-specific immunotherapy via inducing antigen-specific regulatory T cells. miR-146a may have therapeutic potential to be used in the immunotherapy of allergic diseases.
Subject(s)
Immunotherapy , MicroRNAs/genetics , Rhinitis, Allergic/genetics , Rhinitis, Allergic/immunology , Animals , Case-Control Studies , Cytokines/metabolism , Dendritic Cells/immunology , Dendritic Cells/metabolism , Disease Models, Animal , Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte/immunology , Gene Expression , Humans , Immunoglobulin E/blood , Immunoglobulin E/immunology , Immunotherapy, Adoptive , Lymphocyte Count , Male , Mice , Nanoparticles , Nasal Mucosa/cytology , Nasal Mucosa/immunology , Nasal Mucosa/metabolism , Ovalbumin/immunology , Rhinitis, Allergic/diagnosis , Rhinitis, Allergic/metabolism , Rhinitis, Allergic/therapy , T-Cell Antigen Receptor Specificity/immunology , T-Lymphocyte Subsets/immunology , T-Lymphocyte Subsets/metabolism , Transforming Growth Factor beta/genetics , Transforming Growth Factor beta/metabolism , Vaccines/immunologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in patients with chronic schistosomiasis and its relationship with gender and age, and to explore its clinical significance. METHODS: The colonic mucosa specimens of 50 chronic schistosomiasis patients and 4 persons who had a family history of colon cancer but their physical examinations were normal (as a control group) were selected and the expressions of P-gp in the colonic gland of these samples were detected with the immunohistochemical staining method. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the mean gray value of the positive particles of P-gp of colonic epithelial cells of the chronic schistosomiasis group was significantly reduced (P < 0.05), but positive unit values were significantly increased (P < 0.05), which meant the P-gp expression in colonic gland of the patients with chronic schistosomiasis was significantly increased, but this increase had no relationship with sex and age. CONCLUSION: Chronic schistosomiasis may induce the increase of P-gp expression which may be a compensatory protection mechanism due to the stimulation of schistosome eggs to the colon tissues.
