Comparison of allergen-induced late inflammatory reactions in the nose and in the skin in house dust mite-allergic patients with or without asthma.

Background: It remains to be established which factors contribute to the occurrence of asthma in allergic individuals. We hypothesized that differences in the late allergic inflammatory reaction to allergen between asthmatic and non-asthmatic house dust mite-allergic individuals might contribute to the difference in the clinical presentation of allergy.

Aim: To compare allergen-induced changes in parameters for cellular inflammation during the phase of the late allergic reaction in the skin and nose, in house dust mite-allergic individuals with or without asthma.

Products from human mast cell line cells enhance the production of interferon-gamma by CD8+ and CD4+ T cells.

In patients with allergic asthma, T-cell cytokines are implicated in the regulation of the local inflammation in the airways. The ability of sensitized mast cells to release mediators and cytokines early upon allergen stimulation makes them important candidates for local immunoregulation. We have studied the effects of human mast cells on T cells with the use of the human mast cell line HMC-1.