Full text of DOI:10.1016/S0301-0546(02)79092-7

Specific immune response to Parietaria judaica plant
profilin: a low T cell proliferative response supports
high IgE and skin prick test
D. Beníteza, P. García-Ortegab, C. Picadoc, J. Milàa, J. Vivesa, J. Martínezd, and R. Vilellaa
b
aService of Immundogy. IDIBAPS. Hospital Clínic, Barcelona. Hospital Joan XXIII. University Rovira i Virgili.
c
d
Tarragona. Service of Pneumology. IDIBAPS. Hospital Clínic Barcelona. Departament of Immunology,
Microbiology and Parasitology. Faculty of Pharmacy. University of Basque country, Vitoria. Spain.
stimulus (PHA) did not correlate with the individual
SUMMARY
skin prick tests to Pj profilin or with Pj-specific IgE
levels in serum. The T-cell lines tested showed no
cross-reactivity with Phl p profilin.
Background: allergic disease caused by Parietaria
judaica (Pj) has been widely documented in
Mediterranean area. Profilins have been identified as
widely distributed allergenic proteins. The role of Pj
profilin in specific immune response in Pj-sensitized
patients is unknown.
Methods: skin prick test and determination of
specific and total IgE levels in serum were performed
in all patients (n = 28) and non-allergic controls
(n = 18). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)
were isolated from both groups and stimulated with
crude extract or highly purified Pj profilin. The
production of type I and type II cytokines was
determined by specific and polyclonal stimuli in
patients and controls. T-cell lines specific to Pj profilin
were established and cross-reactivity with another
highly purified profilin from Phleum pratense (Phl p)
was evaluated.
Conclusions: our results suggest that Pj profilin is
partly responsible for the T-cell-mediated response in
patients allergic to Pj. The high skin reactivity to Pj
profilin is these patients was accompanied by a small
increase in the T-cell response to this profilin. The
response was highly specific since Pj profilin specific
T-cell lines showed no cross-reactivity with a highly
homologous profilin from Phl p. The lack of
correlation between the proliferative T-cell response
and polyclonal IL-4 production with allergen-specific
serum IgE and skin reactivity probably indicates that
some of the responding T-cells may be involved in
immune reactions other than those supporting IgE
production.
Key words: T-cells. Profilins. Skin Prick test. Specific
IgE. IL-4. IFN-ꢀ. Parietaria judaica.
Results: Pj profilin-sensitized patients showed a
small but significantly increased in T-cell proliferative
response to this profilin compared with non-atopic
controls. The production of interleukin (IL)-4 and
interferon (IFN)-ꢀ in response to the specific
stimulus was undetectable. However, the production
of IL-4 in response to a polyclonal stimulus
[phytohemagglutinin (PHA)] was significantly higher
in atopic patients than in controls. The T-cell
response did not correlate with the magnitude of
response to skin prick tests with Pj profilin or with
Pj-specific serum IgE levels. In addition, the
production of IL-4 in response to a polyclonal
Allergol et Immunopathol 2002;30(2):62-69.
Abbreviations used
SPT: Skin prick test
PBMC: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells
PBS: Phosphate-buffered saline
PHA: Phytohemaglutinin
TT: Tetanus toxoid
SI: Stimulation index
Pj: Parietaria judaica
Allergol et Immunopathol 2002; 30(2): 62-69

D. Benítez, P. García-Ortega, C. Picado, J. Milà, J. Vives, J. Martínez, R. Vilella.— SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSE TO PARIETARIA
JUDAICA PLANT PROFILIN: A LOW T CELL PROLIFERATIVE RESPONSE SUPPORTS HIGH IGE AND SKIN PRICK TEST
63
Phl p: Phleum pratense
Sweden) levels in serum. None of the patients had
received specific immunotherapy. Histamine
chloryde, 10 mg/ml and saline were used as positive
and negative controls, respectively, in all subjects.
None of the control donors had a clinical history of
allergic disease, and none had specific serum IgE or
a positive SPT reaction to any of the common
allergens of the Mediterranean area.
INTRODUCTION
Pollen from Parietaria judaica (Pj) is a major source
of airborne allergens in the Mediterranean area,
giving rise to seasonal allergies with clinical
manifestations such as rhinitis, conjunctivitis and
asthma. Profilins constitute a ubiquitous family of
proteins that control actin polymerization in
eukaryotic cells (1) and have been identified as
allergens in several species of tree, grass, and weed
pollens, and in some fruits and vegetables. Profilins
are described as pan-allergens, because they are
recognized by 20 % of all pollen-allergic patients
(2-4), and have been considered responsible for
combined allergies to pollen and food (4).
It is well established that allergen-specific TH2-like
cells play an important role in the induction of IgE
synthesis (IL-4) and eosinophilia (IL-5) (5-7).
Furthermore, a higher frequency of infiltrating
T-cells producing TH1 cytokines (IFN-ꢀ) (8-10) and
an increase in allergen-specific IgG (11) are found
after successful immunotherapy. This stresses the
importance of different subsets of T-cells in the
allergic immune responsiveness. Whereas skin
prick test (SPT) areas and allergen-specific IgE
measurements are well correlated (12, 13), no
relationship between allergen-specific T-cell
proliferation, cytokine production, allergen-specific
IgE, and SPT, has been found (14).
Allergens
Pollen from Pj (Allergon AB, Välinge, Sweden) was
extracted as previously described (15) and stored
lyophilized at –20 °C until used. Working solutions
(1 mg lyophilized material/ml RPMI 1640 medium
(BioWhittaker, Walkersville, Maryland) were stored at
–20 °C until used. The extracts contained all
important allergens as evaluated by sodium
dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
immunobloting. Chromatographyc purification of
profilins was done as previously described (16).
Proteins co-eluted with profilin were removed by
high-resolution chromatography in the SMARTTM
system (Pharmacia), as also described (16).
PBMC stimulation assay
PBMCs were isolated from freshly drawn
heparinized blood by gradient centrifugation on
Lymphoprep (Nycomed Pharma, Oslo, Norway),
washed twice with PBS (bioMérieux, Marcy l’Etoile,
France), and resuspended in X-VIVO 10 medium
(BioWhittaker, Walkersville, Maryland) with
L-glutamine, without antibiotics (referred to as
medium). The PBMCs were stimulated with 10 ꢁg/ml
of Pj profilin, in 96-well, round-bottomed plates with
1 × 105 cells/well in 200 ꢁl medium/well. Optimal
conditions for the proliferation assays were
determined by pilot studies with allergen
concentrations from 100 to 0.01 ꢁg/ml and harvest of
the cells at day 3, 6 or 10 with PBMCs from patients
and non-atopic donors. PBMCs in cultures without
allergen were used as negative controls; PBMCs
stimulated with 5 ꢁg/ml tetanus toxoid (TT)
(bioMérieux, Lyon, France) or with 1/100 PHA
(Wellcome, Beckenham, U.K.) were used as positive
controls. Cells were cultured for 6 days in a
humidified atmosphere at 37 °C, 5% CO2, followed
by an 18-hour pulse in the presence of 0.5 ꢁCi of
3H-thymidine (Amersham, U.K.) per well. The cells
were harvested on to nitrocellulose filters and
thymidine incorporation was determined by liquid
scintillation counting (Betaplane, BTK, Wallac).
In this study we examine the specific immune
response to Pj plant profilin in atopic patients and
non-atopic subjects. We analyze the possible
correlation between allergen-specific T-cell
proliferation, cytokine production, allergen-specific
IgE and SPT in atopic patients to Pj profilin and
non-atopic donors. In addition, we address the
question of the cross-reactivity between Pj and Phl p
profilins.
METHODS
Characterization of blood donors
Blood samples from 28 Pj profilin allergic patients
(mean age 32 years, range 19-54) and 18 non-atopic
subjects (mean age 39 years, range 25-53) were
collected. All patients had a clinical history of
seasonal allergic rhinitis and/or asthma, positive SPT
(> 4 mm of wheal diameter) to Pj pollen extracts and
Pj profilin, and all but one had positive serum
Pj-specific IgE (CAP-System, Pharmacia, Uppsala,
Allergol et Immunopathol 2002; 30(2): 62-69

D. Benítez, P. García-Ortega, C. Picado, J. Milà, J. Vives, J. Martínez, R. Vilella.— SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSE TO PARIETARIA
JUDAICA PLANT PROFILIN: A LOW T CELL PROLIFERATIVE RESPONSE SUPPORTS HIGH IGE AND SKIN PRICK TEST
64
Stimulation of Parietaria judaica profilin specific
250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
T-cell llines
Medium
Phl p-profilin
Pj-profilin
50
36
25
9
Non-atopics
0
Atopics
0
2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
cmp
Figure 4.—IL-4 production by PBMCs of atopic patients (closed
circles) versus non-atopic donors (open circles). Polyclonal
cytokine production: PBMCs were incubated with PHA (1/100) for
two days and the concentration of IL-4 was determined by ELISA.
Atopic patients produced higher levels of IL-4 (mean 36 ± 59 SD)
than non-atopic controls (mean 9 ± 15 SD) (p = 0.001).
Figure 6.—Reactivity of Pj profilin specific T-cell lines with a highly
homologous profilin from Phl p. Seven T-cell lines were
established from the PBMCs of four Pj profilin atopic patients.
Results are expressed as the mean of cpm of triplicate cultures,
stimulated with Phl p profilin (mean 2045 ± 1433 SD), Pj profilin
(mean 10269 ± 5477 SD), or medium alone (mean
2207 ± 2395 SD).
A
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
DISCUSSION
The main findings of our study are: (a) The patients
allergic to Pj profilin had a significantly increased
T-cell proliferative response to this profilin compared
with non-atopic subjects. (b) The enhanced T-cell
proliferation of the atopic patients was not correlated
to skin reactivity or to specific serum IgE levels. (c)
Specific Pj profilin T-cell lines did not show
cross-reactivity with another highly purified profilin
(Phl p profilin). (d) The group of atopic patients has a
significantly increased polyclonal (PHA) production of
IL-4, compared with non-atopic subjects, and (e) this
increased production of IL-4 did not correlate with
skin reactivity or specific serum IgE levels.
0
50
100
150
200
IL-4 (pg/ml)
B
16
14
12
10
8
6
The enhanced T-cell responses to profilins in the
atopic patients, although small, indicate an increased
frequency of allergen-specific T-cells (17). The fact
that enhanced profilin specific T-cell responses are
found in the peripheral blood of patients suggests
that the responding T-cells are inducing the
production of the allergen-specific IgE by B cells and
the subsequent skin reactivity. Therefore, a direct
correlation between the level of T-cell reactivity and
allergen-specific serum IgE and SPT could be
expected. However, in this study neither specific
serum IgE levels nor SPT diameters could be
correlated to the level of profilin specific T-cell
responses of the patients. In similar studies, we (18)
and others (14), working with Phl p profilin and grass
allergen extracts and immunoaffinity-purified group
5 allergens of the Poaceae family (Phl p, Poa
pratensis, Lolium perenne) reached similar
conclusions. In these works, neither it was found any
4
2
0
0
50
100
150
200
IL-4 (pg/ml)
Figure 5.—Correlation between polyclonal IL-4 production and
specific IgE (A) or SPT (B). Pj-specific IgE concentrations were
determined in a CAP-SYSTEM. (Pharmacia, Upsala, Sweden) and
expressed as KU/L. The concentration of IL-4 was determined by
ELISA, and expressed as pg/ml on the supernatants of the
cultures of PBMCs from Pj atopic patients stimulated with PHA
(1/100) for two days. The Pj profilin wheal diameter are expressed
in mm. Spearman rank order Correlation: A: r = 0.003. B: r = 0.161.
T-cell lines did not show cross-reactivity with another
highly purified profilin (from Phl p) (fig. 6).
Allergol et Immunopathol 2002; 30(2): 62-69

D. Benítez, P. García-Ortega, C. Picado, J. Milà, J. Vives, J. Martínez, R. Vilella.— SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSE TO PARIETARIA
JUDAICA PLANT PROFILIN: A LOW T CELL PROLIFERATIVE RESPONSE SUPPORTS HIGH IGE AND SKIN PRICK TEST
65
Stimulation index (SI) values were calculated as the
ratio of cpm at the optimal antigen concentration in
the stimulated cultures relative to the cpm in the
unstimulated cultures. All results represent the mean
values of triplicate cultures.
Mann Whitney U test to compare groups of data
with non-normal distribution. Spearman rank order
correlation was used to detect correlation between
different data sets. All stochastic probabilities less
than or equal to 0.05 were considered significant.
Analyses were performed with SPSSWIN
6.1.3 (SPSS Inc., 1989-1995).
Cytokine production
PBMCs were thawed and stimulated in medium
with 25 ꢁg/ml of Pj profilin or 1/100 PHA
(Wellcome, Beckenham, U.K.), in 96-well,
flat-bottomed plates; 3 × 105 cells/well in 300 ꢁl
medium/well were used. The cells were cultured in
humidified atmosphere at 37 °C, 5% CO2; PHA and
Pj profilin supernatants were collected at days
2 and 7 respectively. IL-4 and IFN-ꢀ concentrations
in supernatants were determined by ELISA
(Bender, Vienna, Austria) according to the
manufacturer’s description.
RESULTS
SPT and allergen-specific IgE
All patients had a positive SPT to both Pj crude
extract and Pj highly purified profilin, and all but one
had Pj specific IgE. No correlation was found
between the patients’ SPT wheal diameter (mean
7,75 ± 2,2 SD) and the concentration of specific IgE in
serum (fig. 1). Total serum IgE levels ranged from
11 to 1,511 IU/ml (mean 228 ± 316 SD). Pj specific
IgE levels range from 0.3 to 97 KU/L (mean
28.9 ± 27.2 SD).
Establishment of Pj specific T-cell lines
T-cell lines specific to Pj profilin were established
from PBMCs of 27 patients allergic to this profilin.
Isolated PBMCs (1 × 106/ml) were stimulated in
8 × 1 ml bulk cultures in 24-well flat-bottomed culture
plates (Nunc, Roskilde, Denmark) with 10 ꢁg/ml of
profilin for 7 days. Subsequently, recombinant
IL-2 (rIL2) (10 U/ml; Roche, Nutley, New Jersey, USA)
was added and kept in culture for an additional
7 days.
Proliferative T-cell responses to allergens
Both patients and control subjects exhibited
proliferative T-cell responses to the allergen extract
with maximal stimulatio ranged 1 to 100 ꢁg/ml. To
ensure that the results were not influenced by the
variation in background counts, they were expressed
as SI. The responses expressed as mean SI to crude
extract and highly purified profilin were higher in the
group of atopic patients than in the non-atopic
subjects (fig. 2). Proliferative responses of patient’s
PBMC to Pj profilin were generally low, with SI
values ranging from 1 to 6 (mean 2,04 ± 0.7 SD). This
finding was in contrast with their SPT response to Pj
profilin and high Pj specific IgE. Proliferative
responses to TT and PHA were higher in the group of
non-atopics than in patients, but the difference was
not significantly (fig. 2).
T-cell stimulation assay
On day 14 after stimulation, the proliferative
capacity of the T-cell lines was assessed: 2 × 104
T-cell blasts were incubated in triplicate in 200 ꢁl
cultures in the presence of 105 irradiated (2,500 rads)
autologous PBMCs plus the appropriate profilin
(10 ꢁg/ml) in 96-well round bottomed microtitter
plates for 48 hr at 37 °C, in a humidified atmosphere
of 5 % CO2, followed by an 18-hour pulse with
To further analyze the Pj profilin-specific T cell
reactivity 185 T cell lines were generated from the
peripheral blood of 27 Pj profilin allergic patients.
A substantial increase in the SI was achieved, but the
majority of T cell lines still exhibited low reactivity
against Pj profilin (median 4 ± 6.2 SD).
3
0.5 ꢁCi of H-thymidine per well (Amersham),
radionuclide uptake was measured by scintillation
counting. Cultures with positive SI were selected.
The level of profilin-specific T-cell proliferation did
not correlate with specific Pj IgE concentrations
(fig. 3A) or Pj profilin SPT (fig. 3B) of the individual
patients.
Statistical analysis
Comparison of T-cell proliferation (expressed as SI)
and cytokine production (expressed as pg/ml)
between groups was done by Student’s t test or
Allergol et Immunopathol 2002; 30(2): 62-69

D. Benítez, P. García-Ortega, C. Picado, J. Milà, J. Vives, J. Martínez, R. Vilella.— SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSE TO PARIETARIA
JUDAICA PLANT PROFILIN: A LOW T CELL PROLIFERATIVE RESPONSE SUPPORTS HIGH IGE AND SKIN PRICK TEST
66
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
A
5
4
3
SI
2
1
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
Pj-specific IgE (KU/L)
0
5
10
15
20
SPT (mm)
B
Figure 1.—SPT versus specific IgE. SPT results are expressed as
Pj profilin wheal diameter in mm. Pj-specific IgE concentrations
were determined in a CAP-SYSTEM. (Pharmacia, Upsala, Sweden)
and expressed as KU/L. Spearman rank order correlation: r = 0.04,
p = 0.82.
5
4
3
2
1
0
SI
1000
Non-allergic
Allergic donors
100
0
5
10
15
SPT (mm)
Figure 3.—(A). Specific T-cell responses to Pj profilin versus
specific IgE. Results are expressed as SI obtained by Pj profilin
stimulation of PBMCs from atopic donors and Pj-specific IgE
10
1
(KU/L). The IgE concentrations were determined in
a
CAP-SYSTEM (Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden). Spearman rank
order correlation: r = 0.16, p = 0.432. (B). Specific T-cell responses
to Pj profilin versus SPT. Results are expressed as SI obtained by
Pj profilin stimulation of PBMCs from atopic donors and Pj profilin
wheal diameter in mm. Spearman rank order correlation: r = 0.09,
p = 0.620.
0
TT
Pj-Crude extract
Pj-Profilin
PHA
Figure 2.—Specific T-cell responses to profilin and crude extract
from Pj. Results are expressed as SI obtained by stimulation of
PBMCs from atopic donors (closed figures) or non-atopic controls
(open figures). Mean values are significantly higher for Pj profilin
in atopics (mean 2.04 ± 0.7 SD) than in controls (mean
1.47 ± 0.28 SD) (p = 0.007). Also, mean values are significantly
higher for Pj crude extract in atopics (mean 3.47 ± 2.5 SD) than in
controls (mean 1.17 ± 0.16 SD) (p = 0.003). Mean values are non
significantly higher for TT in controls (mean 10.5 ± 4.2 SD) than in
atopics (mean 5.7 ± 3.9 SD) (p = 0.481). Also, mean values are non
significantly higher for PHA in controls (mean 152 ± 60.7 SD) than
in atopics (mean 121 ± 59 SD) (p = 0.98).
IFN-ꢀ. The production of IL-4 on PHA-stimulated
PBMCs from atopic patients was higher than from
control subjects (p = 0.001) (fig. 4), whereas the
production of IFN-ꢀ on the same conditions was not
different (p = 0.38, results not shown). The
production of IL-4 and IFN-ꢀ by profilin-stimulated
PBMCs was undetectable in the majority of patients
and controls (results not shown). IL-4 polyclonal
production level did not correlate with the specific
Pj IgE concentration (fig. 5A) or Pj profilin SPT
(fig. 5B) in the atopic patients.
Cytokine profiles of the allergen-specific T-cell
response
Cross-reactivity of Pj and Phleum pratense
profilins
To determine whether the cytokine production
of the patients was consistent with the atopic
phenotype, supernatants from profilin and
PHA-stimulated PBMCs from patients and control
subjects were assayed for production of IL-4 and
To study the possible T-cell cross-reactivity we
selected 7 of the better Pj profilin T-cell lines
stablished from the PBMCs of four patients. This
Allergol et Immunopathol 2002; 30(2): 62-69

D. Benítez, P. García-Ortega, C. Picado, J. Milà, J. Vives, J. Martínez, R. Vilella.— SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSE TO PARIETARIA
JUDAICA PLANT PROFILIN: A LOW T CELL PROLIFERATIVE RESPONSE SUPPORTS HIGH IGE AND SKIN PRICK TEST
67
correlation between the magnitude of the patients’
T-cell responses and the skin prick test areas or
specific serum IgE levels.
in order to stablish the cross-reactivity between
allergens at the T-cell level.
In conclusion, the results of the present study
show that Pj profilin specific proliferative T-cell
response and the polyclonal production of IL-4 are
higher in patients than in the group of control
subjects. This suggests a role for Pj profilin in the
induction of T-cell-driven immunological reactions.
The lack of correlation between the skin reactivity
and IgE-specific concentration, T-cell reactivity or
IL-4 production most likely reflects the complexity of
the skin reactivity, whereas the fact that the
proliferative T-cell response did not correlate to the
patients serum IgE suggests that at least some of
the responding T-cells may be involved in immune
reactions other than the support of IgE production.
That profilins are ubiquous and highly conserved
proteins could be the explanation of the low T-cell
responsiveness and elevated SPT, in our group of
patients. Pj profilin specific T-cell lines did not show
cross-reactivity with a highly homologous profilin
from Phl p (14).
The small increase in the T cell response of the
patients group, was in contrast to the positive results
of the SPT, that were in general vigorous. Low
responsiveness in the proliferation test were
characteristics of Pj profilin when assayed in PBMCs
and also with T-cell lines. A general defect in the
proliferative capacity of lymphocytes in these
patients could be excluded because the TT and PHA
controls induce good proliferative responses. Similar
low T cell responsiveness has been described with
Bos d 2 (19), s1-casein (20) and Fel d1 (21). The
explanation of how a low T-cell responsiveness can
sustain and elevated SPT in the group of Pj profilin
atopic patients, remains especulative at this
moment, but could be related to the fact that profilins
are ubiquous and highly conserved proteins: there is
a 70 % of aminoacid sequence homology between
human and plant profilins.
We were unable to detect the production of IL-4 (a
typical TH2 cytokine) and IFN-ꢀ (a typical TH1 cytokine)
when PBMCs from atopic patients and non-atopic
controls were stimulated by Pj profilin because the
levels of the cytokines in the supernatants of the
cultures were too low for the sensitivity of the
method. However, the increased production of
IL-4 and the tendency to a reduced production of
IFN-ꢀ, due to a polyclonal stimulation (PHA) of
peripheral T-cells of the atopic patients, reflects their
allergic phenotype. Several researchers have
reported cytokine production patterns in PBMCs
activated by non-specific stimulation in atopic
diseases. It has been shown that in vitro IFN-ꢀ
production by PHA-stimulated PBMCs is greatly
diminished in atopic dermatitis patients compared
with non-atopic healthy controls (22). In addition, it
has also been demonstrated that the activation of
PBMCs from atopic patients with high serum IgE
induce higher levels of IL-4 synthesis and lower
levels of IFN-ꢀ than the levels produced by PBMC
from healthy controls, suggesting that enhanced
IL-4 production and reduced IFN-ꢀ production are
associated with the elevated serum IgE levels in
atopic patients (23, 24).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study was supported by FISS 96/0787. The
hrIL-2 used in this study was kindly provided by Dr.
M. Gately (Hoffmann-La Roche, Nutley, New Jersey,
USA).
RESUMEN
Antecedentes: La enfermedad alérgica originada
por Parietaria judaica (Pj) ha sido ampliamente
documentada en la zona Mediterránea. Las profilinas
han sido identificadas como proteínas alergénicas
de amplia distribución. El papel de la profilina de Pj en
la respuesta inmunológica específica en pacientes
sensibilizados a la Pj es desconocida.
Métodos: Se determinaron en todos los pacientes
(n = 28) y controles normales no atópicos (n = 18) el
test de reactividad cutánea y los niveles tanto de IgE
específicas como totales en suero. Se aislaron
células mononucleares de sangre periféica (PBMC)
en ambos grupos y fueron estimuladas con el
extracto crudo o con la profilina altamente purificada
de Pj. Se determinaron también la producción de
citocinas de tipo I y de tipo II, con estimulaciones
específicas o policlonales en pacientes y controles.
Establecimos líneas de células T específicas por la
profilina de Pj y evaluamos la reactividad cruzada con
Recently, several plant profilins have been cloned
and sequenced (25-29). Their deduced amino acid
sequences show a high degree of homology.
However, the T-cell lines raised against Pj profilin
did not show any reactivity with Phl p profilin. Even
though these data were obtained from experiments
with a limited number of T-cell lines, the results
indicate the importance of using T-cell lines (or
clones) and highly purified (or recombinant) allergens
Allergol et Immunopathol 2002; 30(2): 62-69

D. Benítez, P. García-Ortega, C. Picado, J. Milà, J. Vives, J. Martínez, R. Vilella.— SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSE TO PARIETARIA
JUDAICA PLANT PROFILIN: A LOW T CELL PROLIFERATIVE RESPONSE SUPPORTS HIGH IGE AND SKIN PRICK TEST
68
otra profilina altamente purificada de Phleum
pratense (Phl p).
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Resultados: Los pacientes sensibilizados a la
profilina de Pj muestran un ligero pero significativo
incremento en la respuesta proliferativa T frente la
profilina respecto con el grupo de controles no
alérgicos. La producción de IL-4 y IFN-ꢀ en respuesta
a estímulos específicos fue indetectable. Sin
embargo, la producción de IL-4 en respuesta a un
estímulo policlonal (PHA), fue significativamente
mayor en pacientes atópicos que en los controles
no alérgicos. La respuesta celular T no se
corresponde ni con la magnitud de la repuesta en la
reactividad cutánea a la profilina de Pj ni con los
niveles de IgE en suero específicos para la Pj. La
producción de IL-4 frente a un estímulo policlonals
(PHA), no se correlaciona con la reactividade cutánea
a la profilina ni con los niveles de IgE en suero. Las
líneas específicas T testadas no mostraron ninguna
reactividad cruzada con la profilina de Phl p.
Conclusiones: Nuestros resultados sugieren que
la profilina de Pj es responsable en parte de la
respuesta mediada por células T en pacientes
Correspondence:
Ramón Vilella. Servicio de Inmunología.
Hospital Clínic i Provincial.
Villarroel, 170. 08036 Barcelona. Spain
Telefax: (34-3) 4518038.
allergen-stimulated
1995;154:4187-94.
T
cell cultures.
J
Immunol
E-mail: rvilella@medicina.ub.es
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alérgicos a la Pj. La elevada reactividad cutánea de
estos pacientes, se acompaña de un pequeño
incremento en la respuesta de células T a esta
profilina. La respuesta es muy específica porque las
líneas de células T no presentaron respuesta
cruzada con la profilina altamente homóloga de Phl
p. La falta de correlación entre la respuesta
proliferativa de las células T y la producción
policlonal de IL-4 con los niveles de IgE específicos
en suero y la reactividad cutánea probablemente
indica que algunas de las células T respondedoras
estarían involucradas en una reacción inmunitaria
diferente a la que promueve la producción de IgE.
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Palabras clave: Célula T. Profilinas. Prueba de
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Parietaria judaica.
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