Expression of 4-1BBL in the peripheral blood from patients with allergic bronchial asthma

Objective 4-1BB ligand (4-1BBL,CD137L) is a member of the tumour necrosis factor superfamily expressed primarily on antigen presenting cells such as B cells, macrophages and dendritic cells. Its engagement with the receptor 4-1BB(CD137) has been shown to promote T-cell activation and regulate proliferation and survival of T cells. In murine allergic asthma model,it is shown that stimulation of the agonistic 4-1BBL mAb prevent the development of airway hyperreactivity and airway inflammation cells infiltration, but the role of the costimulatory molecule in patients with allergic asthma remains unclear. Methods In this study, the expression of 4-1BBL mRNA and soluble 4-1BBL (s4-1BBL) protein concentration were analyzed in peripheral blood of patients with asthma. Compared with healthy controls,and analyzed the relationship between peripheral blood 4-1BBL and asthma severity. Results Result show the plasma s4-1BBL protein concentration of patient with asthma (223.47 ± 69.28) μg/L, but healthy control as (303.12 ± 41.48) μg/L, patient's plasma s4-1BBL protein concentration decreased significantly comparing with healthy control ( P ＜0.05), but we didn't find the difference on the expression of 4-1BBL mRNA in PBMC with real time PCR method( P ＞0.05). In addition to, the study demonstrated plasma s4-1BBL and house dust mite specific IgE had no correlation ( r = 0.072, P ＞ 0.05), but showed significant negative with FEV1 percentage of predicted value( r = -0. 487, P ＜0.05). Conclusions We speculated s4-1BBL costimulatory molecules play an important role in patients with asthma on the immune response, its decreasing induced to immune response imbalances and promote the occurrence of asthma. Key words: 4-1BBL; soluble 4-1BBL; Allergic asthma; Costimulatory molecules