Relationship between the anti-inflammatory properties of salmeterol/fluticasone and the expression of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in COPD

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Abstract

Background

Salmeterol and fluticasone combination (SFC) has anti-inflammatory effects and improves clinical symptoms in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the anti-inflammatory mechanism of SFC remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the inflammatory responses of COPD, as well as the relationship of the inflammatory factors with the levels of CD4 ⁺CD25 ⁺Foxp3 ⁺regulatory T cells (Foxp3 ⁺Tregs) after SFC therapy.

Methods

Twenty-one patients with moderate or severe COPD received treatment with 50/500 μg of SFC twice a day for 12 weeks. Before and after treatment, the patients were evaluated using the Modified Medical Research Council (MMRC) dyspnea scale and by conducting a 6-min walk test. The number of neutrophils, monocytes and lymphocytes in induced sputum were counted. Levels of cytokines, including pre-inflammatory IL-8, TNF-α, IL-17A and cytokine IL-10, in the sputum supernatant and peripheral blood were measured by ELISA. The proportion of Foxp3 ⁺Tregs in the total CD4 ⁺T cell of the peripheral blood was determined by flow cytometry. The relationship between IL-17A levels and the percentage of Foxp3 ⁺Tregs was analyzed by statistical analysis.

Results

After treatment with SFC, the forced expiratory volume in 1 s as a percentage of predicted values (FEV1%) and the 6-min walk distance in the COPD patients significantly increased, while dyspnea scores decreased. The total number of cells, neutrophils, and the percentage of neutrophils in induced sputum reduced notably, while the proportion of monocytes was significantly increased. Levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL-8, TNF-α, and IL-17A in the sputum supernatant and in the blood were markedly lowered, while IL-10 levels were unchanged. The proportion of Foxp3 ⁺Tregs in the total CD4 ⁺T cell population in the peripheral blood was drastically higher than that before treatment. The level of IL-17A was negatively correlated with the proportion of Foxp3 ⁺Tregs in CD4 ⁺T cells.

Conclusion

SFC can reduce the levels of inflammatory factors and improve symptoms of COPD. The levels of inflammatory factors are associated with the variation of Foxp3 ⁺Tregs in COPD.

Trial registration

This study was registered with http://www.chictr.org (Chinese Clinical Trial Register) as follows: ChiCTR-TNC-10001270

Related collections

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Respir Res

Title: Respiratory Research

Publisher: BioMed Central

ISSN (Print): 1465-9921

ISSN (Electronic): 1465-993X

Publication date (Print): 2011

Publication date (Electronic): 28 October 2011

Volume: 12

Issue: 1

Page: 142

Affiliations

[1 ]Institute of Respiratory Diseases, the Second Hospital of the Third Military Medical University of China, 183 Xinqiao Street, Chongqing 400037, P. R. China

Article

Publisher ID: 1465-9921-12-142

DOI: 10.1186/1465-9921-12-142

PMC ID: 3234191

PubMed ID: 22032685

SO-VID: e1d2632c-4bb5-4ead-9aa6-116b9aee63d2

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.