Background: Bronchial asthma is a multifactorial disease affecting the functionality of the bronchial tree and immunological changes.
Objective: To determine if lymphocytes Th-1 have a role in extrinsic asthma of Mexican patients.
Material and methods: We included in the study 39 patients with extrinsic asthma, living in Mexico City, and 27 healthy subjects, without allergy antecedents, with nutritional and immunological characteristics similar. It was determined the following data: production of IL-2 (in 5 patients and 5 controls), its receptor (in all participants), IFN-g (in 8 patients and 5 controls), and TNF-a (in 8 patients and 5 controls).
Results: Values of IL-2, its receptor and IFN-gamma were higher in patients than in controls, with significant differences. There were not important differences about TNF-alpha.
Conclusions: Even causes of action change between lymphocytes Th-1 and Th-2 are not known, it is confirmed the moving from Th-2 to Th-1 as an active phenomenon in asthma.