Changes of expressions of NLRP3 inflammasome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and IL-1β and IL-18 in serum in children with asthma and their significances / 吉林大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the changes of expressions of NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells and downstream factors interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in serum in the children with asthma, and to explore their significances on assessing the condition of the children.Methods:A total of 176cases of children with asthma were divided into acute exacerbation group (n=91) , chronic persistent group (n=49) and clinical remission group (n=36) according to the clinical manifestation.During the same period, 60healthy children were selected from the outpatient physical examination center as control group.The pulmonary function of children was checked with lung function instrument.The expression levels of NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) and cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-1 (Caspase-1) mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the subjects in various groups were detected by using real-time quantitative PCR.The serum levels of IL-1βand IL-18of the subjects in various groups were detected by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) .Results:Compared with control group, the forced expiratory volume in 1second percentage of predicted value (FEV1％) and fixed ratio of forced expiratory volume in the first second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) of the children in acute exacerbation, chronic persistent and clinical remission groups were decreased (P＜0.05) ;acute exacerbation group＜chronic persistent group＜clinical remission group, and there were significant differences between various groups (P＜0.05) .The levels of NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1mRNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum levels of IL-1βand IL-18in the children with asthma were higher than those in control group (P＜0.01) .The expression levels of NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1mRNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the children in acute exacerbation group were higher than those in chronic persistent and clinical remission groups (P＜0.05) , and the expression levels of NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1mRNA in chronic persistent group were higher than those in clinical remission group (P＜0.05) .Pearson correlation analysis showed that the expression level of NLRP3mRNA in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of asthmatic children was positively correlated with the expression levels of ASC, Caspase-1 mRNA and the serum levels of IL-1βand IL-18 (P＜0.05) , while it was negatively correlated with FEV1％and FEV1/FVC;the expression level of ASC mRNA was positively correlated with the expression level of Caspase-1mRNA and the serum levels of IL-1βand IL-18 (P＜0.05) , while it was negatively correlated with FEV1％and FEV1/FVC (P＜0.05) ;the expression level of Caspase-1 mRNA was positively correlated with the expression level of Caspase-1mRNA and the serum levels of IL-1βand IL-18 (P＜0.05) , while it was negatively correlated with FEV1％and FEV1/FVC (P＜0.05) ;the serum level of IL-1βwas negatively correlated with FEV1％and FEV1/FVC (P＜0.05) , and the serum level of IL-18was negatively correlated with FEV1％and FEV1/FVC (P＜0.05) .Conclusion:The expression levels of NLRP3inflammasome and the downstream factor IL-1βand IL-18in peripheral blood of the children with asthma are increased, and they are related to the clinical stage of the children with asthma.NLRP3inflammasome pathway might promote the pathogenesis of asthma in the children.