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Comparison of Plasma Eotaxin Family Level in Aspirin-Induced and Aspirin-Tolerant Asthma Patients^*

Ji-Won Min; An-Soo Jang, MD; Se-Min Park; Seung-Ha Lee; June-Hyuk Lee, MD; Sung-Woo Park, MD and Choon-Sik Park, MD

^* From the Division of Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, Genome Research Center for Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, Soonchunhyang University, Bucheon Hospital, Gyeonggi Do, Korea. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Correspondence to: Choon–Sik Park, MD, Division of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, 1174, Jung Dong, Wonmi Ku, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Do, 420–021, Korea; e-mail: mdcspark{at}unitel.co.kr

Study objective: Eosinophilic infiltration of airway tissue is a central feature of aspirin-induced asthma (AIA). Eotaxins belong to the family of CC chemokines, which coordinate the recruitment of inflammatory cells bearing chemokine (C-C motif) receptor-3 to sites of allergic inflammation. In the present study, the levels of eotaxin-1, eotaxin-2, and eotaxin-3 following an oral aspirin provocation test (APT) were measured, and the relationship between the eotaxin level and clinical parameters in patients with asthma was evaluated.

Patients and design: An APT was performed in patients with asthma. Twenty AIA patients and 23 aspirin-tolerant asthma (ATA) patients were identified. Plasma levels of eotaxin-1, eotaxin-2, and eotaxin-3 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the 43 patients with asthma and in 39 control subjects.

Results: The proportion of blood eosinophils was significantly higher in asthmatic patients than in control subjects. Nasal polyps were more common in AIA patients than in ATA patients (p < 0.05). In addition, the eotaxin-1 level was higher in AIA and ATA patients than in control subjects (p < 0.01 for each). The eotaxin-2 level was higher in ATA patients than in either the AIA patients (p < 0.05) or control subjects (p < 0.01). Similarly, the eotaxin-3 level was higher in ATA patients than in control subjects. A trend toward higher plasma levels of eotaxin-1 and eotaxin-3 at baseline and at 4 h after APT administration in the ATA group was noted but was not significant. Eotaxin-2 was also higher in ATA patients than in AIA patients at baseline and at 4 h after the APT.

Conclusion: This study shows that eotaxin-2 is differentially secreted in patients with asthma according to aspirin intolerance, and that secretion is not time-dependent in response to the APT in AIA and ATA patients. It therefore appears that eotaxin-2 may be up-regulated and may act differentially in patients with ATA.

Key Words: aspirin • asthma • eosinophils • eotaxin