New Therapy For Asthma Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

[anwarica]

Glucocorticoids, the treatment of choice for many people with asthma, boost production of the molecule IL-10, which helps decrease airway inflammation. However, some asthmatic patients are resistant to glucocorticoid therapy because their T cells do not produce IL-10 in response to these steroids. In a study appearing online on December 8 in advance of print publication in the January 2006 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Catherine Hawrylowicz and colleagues from King's College London investigate IL-10-producing T cells in the context of human allergic and asthmatic disease.

The authors show that pre-treatment of patient T cells with IL-10 and vitamin D3 can overcome this defect and greatly enhance glucocorticoid-induced IL-10 synthesis by T cells from asthmatic patients who were resistant to glucocorticoid therapy. These manipulations increase IL-10 production to levels comparable to those observed in patients who do respond well to therapy. IL-10 increases glucocorticoid receptor expression, and the authors propose that this is the mechanism by which IL-10 overcomes the glucocorticoid-resistant patient defect in IL-10 synthesis. Therefore, this population of IL-10-producing T cells may help treat human allergic diseases and reverse glucocorticoid resistance in asthma.

Journal of Clinical Investigation - Dec 8th