Role of regulatory T cells in allergic rhinitis

Allergic Rhinitis (AR) is a disease which is characterized by nasal mucozal inflammation. In this study, we aimed to observe the cells involved in the pathogenesis of the disease, levels of the cytokines, products of these cells. We also sight the nasal mucosal inflamatory cells and cytokines changes during allergen specific immunotherapyTwenty-four patients applying to Celal Bayar University, Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Immunology and diagnosed with olive positive allergic rhinitis by clinical and skin test findings between March and June in 2007-2008 were included in the present study. Fifteen patients to be operated for any reason and found to be non-atopic by clinical and skin test findings were included as control group. Skin prick test, symptom scoring, measurement of nasal airway flow by rhinomanometry, nasal lavage and nasal biopsy were performed before treatment and during one year immunotherapy in each patient. Skin prick test, nasal lavage and nasal biopsy were also performed in the control group. Nasal lavage cytokine contains were studied by ELISA method and nasal biopsy materials were studied by immunohistochemical method. A weekly pollen count was carried out in Manisa by Durham apparatus between March and July in 2007-2008Twenty-four patients (mean age 35.5 ± 12 years) applying to Internal Diseases Allergy-Immunology Out-patient Clinic were included in our study, and 19 (79.1 %) of these patients were female and 5 (20.8%) were male. Fifteen patients, including 8 females (53.3 %) and 7 male (46.6 %), with a mean age of 29 ± 10 years were included in the study as the control group. Pollenization was found to be at peak level in April, May and June and start to decrease gradually at the beginning of July in Manisa. In the patient group, when compared with the control group before treatment, TGF-b, FoxP3, IFN-g, T-bet values were found to be lower and IL-10 value was found to be higher, while there was no significant difference in GATA-3, IL-4 values. When the patient group was compared with the control group after treatment, there was a significant decrease in TGF-b, FoxP3, IFN-g values and IL-10 values were significantly increased. No significant difference was found in IL-4 and GATA-3 valuesAlthough we did not observe any improvement in our patients during allergen-specific immunotherapy, we examined cytokine pattern and transcription factors and found that we were at an early stage to observe long term immunotherapy resultsKey words: IL-4, IL-10, IFN-g, TGFb, FoxP3, T-bet, GATA-3, allergen-specificimmunotherapy.