Abstract:

Objective
 To investigate the role of interleukin-33(IL-33) in the pathogenesis of bronchial asthma through measuring the serum IL-33 levels in the perpheraal blood of the patients with bronchial asthma,and to study the relationship between the IL-33 levels and lung function or immunoglobulin E(IgE) in the patients with bronchial asthma.Methods  Fifty patients with bronchial asthma (experiment group) and twenty healthy controls (healthy control group)  were enrolled in the study.The asthma patients were divided into IgE  increased group (n= 25) and IgE normal group (n=25)according to the IgE level.The serum  IL-33 levels in peripheral blood of the subjects were examined by ELISA method.The IL-33 level,forced expiratory volume in one second(FEV1),and peak expiratory flow(PEF)  were compared among asthma patients at acute attack period or clinical control period and healthy controls.The correlation between the serum IL-33 level and lung function or IgE level was further analyzed.Results The serum IL-33 level in asthma patients at acute attack period was higher than that in healthy control group(P<0.05);the IL-33 level of the patients  in IgE increased  group was higher than that in IgE normal  group(P<0.05);the serum IL-33 level of the patients at clinical control period was lower than that of the patients at acute attack period(P<0.05),but it was still higher than that of healthy controls(P<0.05).The serum IL-33 level of the asthma patients at acute attack period showed  significantly negative correlation with FEV1 and PEF of the patients(r=－0.413,P= 0.003;r=－0.504,P<0.001);the serum IL-33 level of the  asthma patients at clinical control preriod  also showed  negative correlation with FEV1 and PEF of the  patients(r=－0.386,P=0.006;r=－0.324,P=0.022).Conclusion IL-33,as an inflammatory factor,participates in the  immune-inflammatory response of bronchial asthma,and may aggravate the lung function of asthma patients.

Key words: bronchial asthma, interleukin-33, lung function, immunoglobulin E