Inflammatory Parameters During Asthma Exacerbations and Stable Asthma

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Analysis of Inflammatory Parameters During Asthma Exacerbations and Stable Asthma in Patients With Moderate-Severe Asthma

1 Mins
Allergy & Immunology
Authors:
*Geertje Maria de Boer,1,2 Esmee K. van der Ploeg,2,3 Marjolein J.W. de Bruijn,2 Menno van Nimwegen,2 Mees Dorleijn,4 Ralph Stadhouders,2,3 Rudi W. Hendriks,2 Gert-Jan Braunstahl,1,2 Gerdien A. Tramper-Stranders4,5

1. Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
2. Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
3. Department of Cell Biology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
4. Department of Paediatric Medicine, Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
5. Department of Paediatric Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
*Correspondence to [email protected]

Disclosure:

Dr Braunstahl has received grants from GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Chiesi, Teva; and has received personal fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, Novartis, all outside the submitted work. Dr Tramper-Stranders has received IIS grants and personal fees from OM Pharma, outside the submitted work. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgements:

The authors would like to thank the enrolled patients for participating in this study.

Citation:
EMJ Allergy Immunol. ;5[1]:37-39. Abstract Review No. AR1.
Keywords:
Asthma, exacerbations, immunology.

Each article is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 License.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Asthma exacerbations (AE) are defined as acute or subacute worsening of symptoms from the patient’s usual status and are responsible for most of the morbidity in patients with asthma.1 Allergens and especially viral-associated respiratory tract infections (RTI) are common triggers for AE. Viral RTI account for approximately 40–60% of all AE.2 Animal studies suggest that during viral-associated AE, an increase of so-called alarmins in the circulation can be found, namely IL-33, thymic stromal lymphopoietin, and IL-25. In humans, an increase of serum cytokines, such as IL-10 and IL-18, and a decrease of serum periostin has been described during AE.3,4 Immunological mechanisms underlying AE have not yet been completely unravelled. In this study, the authors aimed to gain insight into the immunological dynamics of moderate-to-severe exacerbations.

METHODS

Patients from the Breathe study, a double-blind, randomised-controlled trial to determine the effects of a bacterial lysate in patients with Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 4 asthma and recurrent AE, were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomised to either 2-year winter season bacterial lysate or placebo treatment. Study visits took place every 3 months, and an extra study visit was planned promptly at the start of an AE. Every 6 months and at the start of during-exacerbation visits, blood was drawn. T2 phenotype was based on T2 inflammation, determined by GINA 2020.5 Nasopharyngeal swab Amies medium was analysed with multiplex viral PCR, blood leukocyte differentiation was calculated with DxH, plasma cytokines were measured with ELISA, and flow cytometry was used to analyse blood T-cell subsets and intracellular cytokines. Baseline and exacerbation data were compared. Data are shown in median (interquartile range).

RESULTS

Thirty-six patients were included in this study. Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) score increased during an AE. In 43.0% of the exacerbations a nasopharyngeal virus was detected, and pathogenic bacteria were detected in 16.8% of the exacerbations. Blood neutrophils did not alter between AE and baseline, while numbers of eosinophils tended to decrease (4.31 [1.39–6.32] versus 1.35 [0.42–2.88] x103/mL; p=0.09). Plasma cytokine analysis showed an increase of IL-10 during an AE (1.95 [1.95–8.85] versus 5.61 (1.95–14.33) pg/mL; p=0.01). Preliminary T-cell subset analysis (n=22) showed a decrease in Th2 and Th17 cell numbers (Figure 1). Intracellular CD4+ T-cell cytokine analysis revealed an increase of percentages of IL-5 (0.83 [0.60–1.32] versus 1.91 [1.51–4.50]; p<0.01) and IL-9 (0.89 [0.50–2.65] versus 2.44 [0.91–3.01]; p<0.01) and a decrease of percentages  of IFNγ (9.85 [6.75–14.93] versus 5.18 [3.62–9.28]; p<0.01). These intracellular effects were most profound in virus-associated exacerbations.

Figure 1: Percentage Th2 and Th17 of T-cells.

Exa: exacerbation; T0: stable timepoint.

CONCLUSION

In this study, >40% of AE were virus-associated. An increase of IL-5 and IL-9 and a decrease of IFNγ was seen, which is in line with previous literature.3,4 Moreover, the increase of IL-5 and IL-9 and the decrease of the number of eosinophils combined with a decrease of blood Th2 and Th17 cells during an AE might hint to migration from systemic inflammation to more local inflammation.

References
Papi A et al. Asthma. Lancet. 2018;391(10122):783-800. Edwards MR et al. The potential of anti-infectives and immunomodulators as therapies for asthma and asthma exacerbations. Allergy. 2018;73(1):50-63. Kumar RK et al. Respiratory viral infection, epithelial cytokines, and innate lymphoid cells in asthma exacerbations. J Leukoc Biol. 2014;96(3):391-6. Nakagome K, Nagata M. Involvement and possible role of eosinophils in asthma exacerbation. Front Immunol. 2018;9:2220. Hogan AD, Bernstein JA. GINA updated 2019: landmark changes recommended for asthma management. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2020;124(4):311-3.

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