GATA-3 or T-bet: Who is the crucial marker of allergic bronchial asthma

The aim: to establish features of expression of GATA-3 and T-bet in bronchial asthma (BA). Material and methods: 20 healthy, 44 patients with allergic and 42 with non-allergic BA were examined. Transcription factors GATA-3 and T-bet expressed in peripheral lymphocytes were analyzed by Western blot after cells were lysed. Preparation of lysates, and the Western blotting were performed through standard procedure. Antibodies against GATA-3 (Abcam, UK), T-bet (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) were used. Level of protein analyzed according to β-actin using anti-actin antibody (Sigma Aldrich, USA). Results: Expression of GATA-3 was significantly increased and expression of T-bet was significantly decreased in lymphocytes of patients with allergic BA compared to healthy (p<0,04) and non-allergic BA groups (p<0,005). The level of GATA-3 in allergic BA negatively correlated with the degree of airflow obstruction (r =-0,4; p =0,011; n=41) and positively correlated with intensity of steroid therapy (r =0,33; p =0,033; n=42). The level of T-bet in non-allergic BA positively correlated with the prevalence of asthmatic triad (r =0,4; p =0,01; n=42) and drug intolerance (r =0,43; p =0,005; n=42). Conclusion: GATA-3 and T-bet may play a key role in the pathophysiology of BA. The expression of GATA-3 and T-bet may serve as markers of allergic BA to provide necessary dose of steroids in patients with BA. This study suggests that atopic BA underlie the high level of Th2-cytokines production in allergic disease. The work was supported by St.-Petersburg government grant 28-04/17 (Certif. PSP080591) and by St.-Petersburg State Medical University named after Pavlov “Research grant of the year” for the best scientific work.