Role of Thymus and Activation-Regulated Chemokine in Allergic Asthma

Quang Luu Quoc; Ji-Young Moon; Dong-Hyun Lee; Ga-Young Ban; Seung-Hyun Kim; Hae-Sim Park

doi:10.2147/JAA.S351720

Role of Thymus and Activation-Regulated Chemokine in Allergic Asthma

J Asthma Allergy. 2022 Feb 5:15:157-167. doi: 10.2147/JAA.S351720. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Quang Luu Quoc¹, Ji-Young Moon¹, Dong-Hyun Lee¹, Ga-Young Ban², Seung-Hyun Kim³, Hae-Sim Park¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea.
² Department of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine Institute for Life Sciences, Chuncheon, South Korea.
³ Translational Research Laboratory for Inflammatory Disease, Clinical Trial Center, Ajou University Medical Center, Suwon, South Korea.

Abstract

Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease characterized by the predominant infiltration of inflammatory cells in the airways. Thymus and activation-regulated chemokine/C-C motif chemokine 17 (TARC/CCL17) is a chemokine responsible for trafficking T helper 2 cells into sites of allergic inflammation.

Objective: To validate the role of TARC in association with clinical and inflammatory parameters in adult asthmatics.

Methods: We enrolled 128 asthmatic patients and 70 healthy controls (HCs). Asthma-related clinical and laboratory parameters, including lung function and eosinophil counts, were measured. Serum levels of TARC, free immunoglobulin E (IgE), and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) were determined by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; serum total IgE level was measured using ImmunoCAP. The levels of inflammatory lipid mediators, such as leukotriene E4 (LTE4), 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE), thromboxane B2 (TXB2), and prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Results: Serum TARC levels are significantly higher in asthmatics than in HCs and in allergic asthmatics than in HCs (P < 0.010 for all), with significantly negative correlations between serum TARC levels and FEV₁%/MMEF% values (r = -0.314, r = -0.268, P < 0.050 for both). The patients with higher serum TARC levels had higher levels of serum total and free IgE levels (P < 0.050 for both) with positive correlations to serum levels of EDN, TXB2, and 15-HETE (r = 0.233, r = 0.264, and r = 0.223, respectively, P < 0.050 for all).

Conclusion: We suggest the role of TARC in allergic asthma via contributing to mast cell and eosinophilic inflammation.

Keywords: IgE; T cells; allergic asthma; asthma; eosinophils; mast cells; thymus and activation-regulated chemokine.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (NRF-2021R1A2B5B01001767) and the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) grant funded by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (grant no. HR16C0001).