Effect of follicular helper T cells on the pathogenesis of asthma

Follicular helper T (TFH) cells are considered to be a separate T helper cell subset, specifically to help memory B cell participate in humoral immunity. It has been reported that there is an association between the imbalance of TFH function and certain autoimmune diseases. However, to the best of our knowledge, the effect of TFH cells on the process of bronchial asthma has not been investigated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the associated markers of TFH cells in bronchial asthma-induced mice. In the current study, sensitized and long-term challenges induced a mouse asthmatic model and were used to investigate the associated markers of TFH cells in the pathogenesis of asthma. The results demonstrated that B cell lymphoma 6, inducible T-cell costimulator (ICOS), ICOS ligand, C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CXCR5) and interleukin (IL)-21 protein and mRNA expression levels were higher in the asthma group, as compared with the control group. Furthermore, the ratio of cluster of differentiation (CD) 4(+)CXCR5(+)/CD4(+) and CD4(+)CXCR5(+)ICOS(+)/CD4(+)CXCR5(+) was significantly increased in the asthma group. The results of the current study suggest that TFH cells and associated markers may have a role in the pathogenesis of chronic bronchial asthma.