Cytokines establishing a connection between asthma and atherosclerosis : the effect of asthma on the cytokine profile and atherogenesis in mice

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by the narrowing of the airways and difficulties in breathing. This disease is caused by a chronic inflammation involving the implication of TH2 response and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Another example of chronic inflammation is atherosclerosis. It is characterized by the formation of an atheroma plaque that grows in size and ruptures releasing all its content from foam cells, to ox-LDL to debris. Those two diseases have been treated as separate diseases for ages however new studies show a relationship between them. This study has shown that levels of IL-4 and TNF-α were elevated in the case of asthmatic mice and reduced in case of mice suffering from atherosclerosis. In the case of IL-4, asthma has led to a slight increase in the levels of this cytokine in both plasma and aorta samples of mice suffering from asthma and atherosclerosis. Whereas in the case of TNF-α, asthma has led to a slight decrease in the levels of this cytokine in plasma samples of mice suffering from asthma and atherosclerosis. Based on those results we can conclude that asthma might delay atherosclerosis due to the anti-atherogenic role played by IL-4 and the proatherogenic role played by TNF-α. However, the correlation between asthma and atherosclerosis is still not well defined. Additional research is highly needed in this area.