Background: The prevalence of psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression among patients with asthma is high. Both asthma and psychological symptoms are characterized by immune inflammation in which CD4+ T cells play a role.
Objective: To investigate whether T-helper (Th) 1, Th2, and Th17 cells imbalance exists in patients with asthma and with and in patients without psychological symptoms.
Methods: The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of T-box 21 (T-bet), GATA binding protein 3 (GATA-3), and RAR-related orphan receptor C (RORC) in peripheral CD4+ T cells of 20 patients with asthma and with psychological symptoms, 30 patients with asthma and without psychological symptoms, and 30 healthy subjects were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction. A Luminex-based approach quantified the levels of interferon γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL) 4, and IL-17A cytokines in serum.
Results: The mRNA expressions of T-bet, GATA-3 and RORC were significantly different among the three groups. Significant elevations of the expressions of T-bet, GATA-3, and RORC mRNA were found in patients with asthma and with psychological symptoms than in healthy subjects, along with the higher levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-17A. Increased expressions of T-bet mRNA were found in patients with asthma and with psychological symptoms but not in those without psychological symptoms. However, the ratio of T-bet to GATA-3 was in balance in patients with asthma and with psychological symptoms.
Conclusion: Analysis of our data revealed Th1 and Th2 cells activated in balance in the peripheral blood of patients with asthma and with psychological symptoms, along with activated Th17 cells. This finding provided an improved understanding of the immune-inflammation responses in patients with asthma and with psychological symptoms, and offered information for new targeted therapy to patients with asthma and with psychological symptoms.