Expression of Neuronal Acetylcholine Receptor Alpha 7 on CD4~+ T Lymphocytes of Peripheral Blood in Children with Asthma

Objective To explore the relationship of the expression of neuronal acetylcholine receptor alpha 7(nAChRα7) and the le-vels of interferon-γ(IFN-γ) and IL-4 in the cultured supernatants in children with asthma,and analyze the role of nAChRα7 in the deve-lopment of asthma.Methods Thirty patients with asthma(asthma group) and 20 health children(control group) were included.Peripheral blood was collected,anticoagulated with EDTA and cultured regularly with nicotine(100 μmol/L) and α-bungarotoxin(α-BTX)(1.0 mg/L),respectively.Cultured supernatants were collected after 24 hours.The expression of CD3+/CD4+/nAChRα7 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) was detected by flow cytometry.The levels of IFN-γ and IL-4 in the cultured supernatants of PBMC were detected by ELISA.Results The expression of CD3+/CD4+/nAChRα7 T lymphocytes of PBMC of children with asthma group was much higher than that of normal control group(P0.05).The expression of CD3+/CD4+/nAChRα7 of PBMC after stimulated with nicotine of both groups were much higher than before(P_a0.01)and expression of nAChRα7 in asthma group increased much higher than that in control group(P0.05).The expression of CD3+/CD4+/nAChRα7+of PBMC after stimulated with α-BTX of both groups were lower slightly than that in control group(P_a0.05).Compared with children in control group,the level of IL-4 in cultured supernatants of asthma group of PBMC was much higher(P0.01) and the level of IFN-γ was much lower(P0.05);In both groups,the level of IL-4 in cultured supernatants of PBMC cultured with nicotine increased higher than that cultured regularly(P_a0.01)and the level of IFN-γ decreased more than cultured regularly(P_a0.01).There was no statistical significance in the level of IL-4 and IFN-γ in cultured supernatants of PBMC after stimulated with α-BTX(P_a0.05).There was positive correlation between nAChRα7 and IL-4(r=0.517 P0.05)and negative correlation between nAChRα7 and IFN-γ(r=-0.288 P0.05).Conclusions The expression of nAChRα7 on CD4+ T lymphocytes of PBMC in children with asthma increased significantly.The expression of nAChRα7 can influence the levels of IL-4 and IFN-γ and the balance of Th1/Th2.It's an important role in the development of asthma.