Hence, IL-13 may contribute to subepithelial fibrosis in asthma by stimulating biologically significant TGF-beta2 secretion from the airway epithelium.
The glucocorticoid-insensitive hyperrresponsiveness in isolated human airways induced by IL-13 and IL-4 provides further evidence that the IL-4Rα pathway should be targeted as a new strategy for treatment of airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma.
However, another important source of these type 2 cytokines, especially interleukin (IL)-5 and IL-13, are CD8<sup>+</sup> T-cells, which are increasingly proposed to play an important role in asthma pathogenesis, because they are abundant and are comparatively insensitive to corticosteroids.
Those with asthma had higher serum interferon (IFN)-α, but lower serum tumour necrosis factor, interleukin (IL)-5, IL-6, CXCL8, CXCL9, IL-10, IL-17 and CCL2 levels (all p<0.05); both groups had similar serum IL-13, total IgE, periostin and blood eosinophil gene expression levels.
Combined analysis revealed that atopic asthmatic children co-inherited the risk alleles of TNF-alpha-308G/A and IL-13 +2044G/A more frequently than control children (aOR 1.91, 95% CI 1.00-3.65), and asthmatic children co-inheriting both risk alleles had significantly lower PC(20) values vs. asthmatic children homozygous for the common alleles (P=0.024).
These innate pathways that lead to asthma involve macrophages, neutrophils, natural killer T cells, and innate lymphoid cells, newly described cell types that produce a variety of cytokines, including IL-5 and IL-13.
A significant interaction was found between R130Q in the IL-13 gene (IL13) and I50V in the IL-4 receptor alpha gene (IL4RA) on the risk of asthma, with a cross-validation consistency of 10 of 10 and a prediction error of 33.7% (P = .014).
Furthermore, both pendrin and periostin levels (a biomarker in asthma) correlated with IL-13 levels, suggesting that pendrin can be induced by this cytokine in sinonasal tissues.
To study the association of IL-4 and IL-13 gene polymorphisms with asthma, we sequenced the promoter regions and exons of IL-4 and IL-13 genes in two groups: one (spouses group) consisted of 13 pairs of asthmatic patients (cases) and their unaffected spouses (controls); the other (parents group) consisted of 11 pairs of asthmatic children (cases) and their unaffected father/mother (controls).
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 addition, the role of IL-13 in airflow obstruction/airway inflammation and asthma exacerbations might be different and targeting multiple pathways may be required to treat this heterogeneous disease and provide clinically meaningful benefits to asthma patients.
Dupilumab (an anti-interleukin-4-receptor-α monoclonal antibody) blocks signalling of interleukin 4 and interleukin 13, type 2/Th2 cytokines implicated in numerous allergic diseases ranging from asthma to atopic dermatitis.
In this review, we focused on IL-4 and IL-13, as these interleukins are considered to play a key role in the pathophysiology of asthma, and on dupilumab, an anti-IL-4 receptor human mAb, as a forthcoming treatment for uncontrolled severe asthma in the near future.
Docking analysis and the possibility of prediction efficacy for an anti-IL-13 biopharmaceutical treatment with tralokinumab and lebrikizumab for bronchial asthma.
Selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analysed as potential markers for asthma susceptibility and severity in the interleukin 4 (IL4), interleukin 13 (IL13), beta-2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2), a disintegrin and metalloprotease 33 (ADAM33), gasdermin-like (GSDML) and the signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) genes comparatively to a population reference set.