@Article{ecn.2017.0390,
AUTHOR = {Takehiro Hasegawa, Hitoshi Uga, Akio Mori, Hirokazu Kurata},
TITLE = {Increased serum IL-17A and Th2 cytokine levels in patients with severe uncontrolled asthma},
JOURNAL = {European Cytokine Network},
VOLUME = {28},
YEAR = {2017},
NUMBER = {1},
PAGES = {8--18},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/ECN/v28n1/65524},
ISSN = {1952-4005},
ABSTRACT = {Asthma is a syndrome of chronic bronchial inflammation and airway remodelling. Initially, asthma
has been categorized into atopic and nonatopic types, based on antigen-specific IgE levels. Moreover, recently,
asthma has been classified into different endotypes based on its pathophysiology, leading to the selection of the
most optimal and effective therapies. Although T helper cell type 2 (Th2) cytokines were proven to play critical
roles in atopic asthma, IL-17A has been reported to be involved in severe refractory asthma. Patients and methods:
In this study, we measured the levels of 24 cytokines/chemokines in the sera of healthy controls (HCs) (n = 34)
and patients with asthma (n = 77), that were compared among patient groups with different disease activities and
characteristics. Results: The serum levels of nine cytokines were significantly higher in patients with asthma than in
HCs, and the levels of IL-17A and SCF were significantly different between uncontrolled and well-controlled patient
groups (p = 0.003). The IL-17A levels were significantly correlated with those of IL-4, IL-25, IL-10, and IFN-γ in
patients with uncontrolled asthma, and the patients with the highest levels of all the above cytokines were refractory
to high-dose of inhaled corticosteroid therapy and have a history of acute exacerbation within 1 year, requiring
systemic steroid therapy. Discussion: This study examines the profiles of upregulation and downregulation of various
cytokines and chemokines in relation to asthmatic control status. IL-17A was significantly upregulated in patients
with the uncontrolled and refractory status. Therefore, IL-17A may play important roles in asthmatic exacerbation,
and its high level, in combination with upregulated Th2 and other cytokines, may indicate the refractory endotype
of asthma.},
DOI = {10.1684/ecn.2017.0390}
}