Abstract
House dust mite Dermatophagoides farinae (Df) is an important aeroallergen in bronchial asthma of childhood. We have studied herein whether peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), obtained from children with stable asthma and strongly positive RAST results for Df, can produce colony-stimulating activities (CSAs) by stimulation with crude Df antigens in vitro. Levels of CSAs in culture supernatant were assessed by an in vitro clonal culture. PBMC of the patients, unlike those of non-allergic controls, released significantly higher levels of eosinophil (Eo)-CSA and granulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSA when stimulated with Df antigens than unstimulated PBMC. The addition of polymyxin B, substance that inactivates endotoxin, did not suppress the Df-antigen-induced generation of the CSAs. The supernatant of PBMC stimulated with Df antigens contained significantly higher levels of both the CSAs in the patients than in the controls. These results indicate that PBMC stimulated with Df antigens can produce elevated levels of Eo-CSA and GM-CSA in children with Df-allergic asthma in comparison to those in non-allergic children.
