We found a significant enhancement of both IL-13 transcripts and secreted proteins in the allergen-challenged BAL compared with the saline-challenged control sites of asthmatic and rhinitic patients.
We evaluated IL-1 alpha, -2, -4, -5, -6, -13, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). mRNAs for IL-1 alpha, -2, -4, -5, and IFN-gamma were detected in all of the atopic subjects; mRNAs for IL-6 and GM-CSF were found in five asthmatics; and mRNA for IL-13 was found in one patient only.
Selective neutralization of IL-13, a cytokine related to IL-4 that also binds to the alpha chain of the IL-4 receptor, ameliorated the asthma phenotype, including airway hyperresponsiveness, eosinophil recruitment, and mucus overproduction.
Our results suggest that when activated by IL-4 and IL-13, different subsets of lung fibroblasts may act as effector cells not only in the pathogenesis of asthma but also in lung remodeling processes.
Through this peculiar cytokine pattern and the IL-4/IL-13-dependent activities, these cells could act as effector cells in the pathogenesis of asthma, triggering and maintaining the recruitment, homing and activation of bone marrow-derived inflammatory cells, and playing a role in the remodeling process of the airways.
Our analysis revealed that without any overt stimulation, mRNA transcripts for interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-13 were expressed by asthmatic but not normal bronchial tissue.
In this review, we describe recent advances in understanding the signal transduction mechanism of IL-13, the involvement of IL-13 signal-related genes as genetic factors in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma, and the expression of IL-13 receptor on bronchial tissues.
They also demonstrate that IL-13 causes emphysema via a MMP- and cathepsin-dependent mechanism(s) and highlight common mechanisms that may underlie COPD and asthma.
When both IL-4 and IL-5 were neutralized in this system, AHR was still induced, suggesting that influenza-induced cytokines such as IL-13, or mechanisms unrelated to cytokines, might be responsible for the development of AHR.
A novel variant of human IL-13, Gln110Arg, on chromosome 5q31, associated with asthma rather than IgE levels in case-control populations from Britain and Japan [peak odds ratio (OR) = 2.31, 95% CI 1.33-4.00]; the variant also predicted asthma and higher serum IL-13 levels in a general, Japanese paediatric population.
The IL-13 gene is located on chromosome 5q31, one of the major loci to be linked to asthma susceptibility, and amongst a cluster of genes which dominate the immunopathology of allergic disease.
The consistent genetic associations of interleukin-13 with asthma and related traits across diverse ethnic populations in these studies provides strong support for the candidacy of this cytokine as a susceptibility locus for asthma and atopy on chromosome 5q31.
Tapr is genetically distinct from known cytokine genes and controls the development of airway hyperreactivity and T cell production of interleukin 4 (IL-4) and IL-13.
In contrast, inhibition of IL-13, another TH2 cytokine whose signal transduction pathway overlaps with that of IL-4, completely blocks airway hyperreactivity in mouse asthma models.
Our findings suggest a possible mechanism by which IL-13 and IL-4 can modulate CysLT(1)R expression on monocytes and macrophages, and consequently their responsiveness to LTD(4), and thus contribute to the pathogenesis of asthma and allergic diseases.
Studies in transgenic mice show that both cytokines cause inflammation, but only IL-13 causes subepithelial fibrosis, a characteristic feature of asthma.
This data suggests that haplotypes composed of the 5' region polymorphisms in the IL-4 gene and SNPs in the intergene sequence between IL-4 and IL-13 influence the development of asthma.
Because exaggerated cytokine production is a characteristic feature of the asthmatic airway, we used constitutive and inducible overexpression transgenic systems to investigate the contributions that interleukin 11 (IL-11) and IL-13 might make to airway remodeling responses.
As shown by haplotype pattern mining analysis, the number of disease-associated haplotype patterns differed from that expected for the 129Q allele polymorphism in IL13 for high serum total immunoglobulin (Ig) E levels, but not for asthma.
IL-4 mediates important proinflammatory functions in asthma, including induction of the IgE isotype switch, increased expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 and promotion of eosinophil transmigration across the endothelium, stimulation of mucus production, and T(H)2 lymphocyte differentiation, leading to release of IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, and IL-13.