The Relationship between Leptin, Adiponectin, Resistin and FoxP3+ Treg cells in Patients with Severe Asthma

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between selected adipocytokines and Foxp3+ Treg cells in patients with asthma. Methods: The study included fifty-seven patients with asthma (30 with severe and 27 with mild to moderate asthma). The control group comprised 25 healthy volunteers. Asthma was diagnosed in accordance with GINA 2014 recommendation. The phenotype of CD4+CD25highCD127lowFoxp3+ cells was evaluated by multicolor flow cytometry. The concentrations of adipocytokine were determined by immunoenzymatic method (ELISA). Results: The percentage of CD4+CD25highCD127low Treg cells expressing Foxp3+ in the patients with severe (female 76.5% (66.1-85.2), male 67% (43.5-81.2)), were significantly lower than that of mild-to-moderate asthma (female 91.6% (78.8-94.5), male 84.5% (77.6-89.4)) and healthy controls (female 89.3% (76.6-94.6), male 94.5% (84.4-95.7)). We did not observed significant correlations between leptin or leptin receptor or adiponectin or resistin, concentration and MFC ratio. No significant correlations were observed between adipocytokine concentration and the percentage of CD4+CD25highCD127low Tregs expressing Foxp3+. Conclusions: The relationship between leptin, adiponectin, resistin and percentage of CD4+CD25highCD127low Tregs expressing Foxp3+ in patients with severe asthma was not observed.