Inhaled corticosteroid treatment for 6 months was not sufficient to normalize phagocytosis in asthmatic children

Research

Carmen Lívia da Silva-Martins, Shirley Claudino Couto and Maria Imaculada Muniz-Junqueira

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Clinical and Translational Allergy 2013, 3:28 doi:10.1186/2045-7022-3-28

Published: 30 August 2013

Abstract (provisional)

Background

Corticosteroids are the first-line therapy for asthma; however, the effect of corticosteroids on the innate immune system remains unclear. This study's objective was to evaluate the effect of inhaled corticosteroid therapy (ICT) on phagocytic functions.

Methods

To evaluate the impact of ICT, the phagocytosis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by blood monocytes and neutrophils and the production of superoxide anions were assessed before and after three and six months of ICT treatment in 58 children with persistent asthma and 21 healthy controls.

Results

We showed that the phagocytic capacity of monocytes and neutrophils that occurred via pattern recognition receptors or was mediated by complement and immunoglobulin receptors in asthmatic children before treatment was significantly lower than in healthy controls (p<0 .05="" 6="" after="" also="" although="" and="" anion="" assessed="" asthma="" asthmatic="" at="" baseline="" before="" but="" by="" caused="" children="" clinical="" decrease="" decreased="" disease.="" for="" form="" function="" ict="" improvement="" in="" influenced="" kruskal-wallis="" mann--whitney="" mild="" months="" normalize="" normalized="" not="" o-="" of="" only="" p="" persistent="" phagocytes.="" phagocytosis="" production="" severity="" stimulation="" sufficient="" superoxide="" test="" the="" there="" this="" to="" treatment="" was="" when="" with="">

Conclusions

Our data suggest that an immunodeficiency in phagocytes remained even after treatment. However, this immunodeficiency does not appear to correspond with the clinical evolution of asthma because an improvement in clinical parameters occurred.

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