Wendy A Neveu, Jenna L Allard, Danielle M Raymond, Lorraine M Bourassa, Stephanie M Burns, Janice Y Bunn, Charles G Irvin, David A Kaminsky, Mercedes Rincon
BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway that is characterized by a Th2-type of immune response with increasing evidence for involvement of Th17 cells. The role of IL-6 in promoting effector T cell subsets suggest that IL-6 may play a functional role in asthma. Classically IL-6 has been viewed as an inflammatory marker, along with TNFalpha and IL-1beta, rather than as regulatory cytokine. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential relationship between IL-6 and other proinflammatory cytokines, Th2/Th17 cytokines and lung function in allergic asthma, and thus evaluate the potential role of IL-6 in this disease...
March 8, 2010: Respiratory Research