Background: The role of oxygen radicals has been implicated in disease processes of asthma. We have previously shown that specific allergens were able to activate respiratory burst by neutrophils from allergic patients sensitized to allergens of the same type as those which produce clinical allergy.
Objectives: In this study, we attempted to evaluate the production of respiratory burst by an anti-IgE Ab in neutrophils from asthmatic allergic patients (with and without immunotherapy treatment) and in neutrophils from healthy subjects.
Method: Neutrophils were stimulated by 10 microg/mL of anti-IgE Ab for 15 min at 37 degrees C. The production of respiratory burst from neutrophils was assayed by luminol-amplified chemiluminescence method.
Results: The respiratory burst was significantly higher in neutrophils from non-IT-asthmatic patients than in neutrophils from both healthy (p < 0.001) and IT-asthmatic (p < 0.001) groups. The IT-asthmatic group presented levels of respiratory burst approximately equal to those from non-allergic subjects (p=0.426).
Conclusions: We conclude that neutrophils obtained from allergic asthmatic patients have an increased propensity to generate respiratory bursts, in comparison with neutrophils from healthy subjects. Immunotherapy actively modifies the respiratory burst by neutrophils from allergic asthmatic patients.