American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine
-
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Mar 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialA randomized controlled trial to evaluate inhibition of T-cell costimulation in allergen-induced airway inflammation.
Rationale: T lymphocytes are important in the pathogenesis of allergic asthma. Costimulation through CD28 is critical for optimal activation of T cells, and inhibition of this pathway with CTLA4Ig has been shown to be effective in preventing airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness in animal models of asthma. Abatacept, a humanized version of CTLA4Ig, has been approved for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, providing the opportunity to test whether inhibition of costimulation is an effective strategy to treat people with asthma. ⋯ Subjects treated with abatacept had an increased percentage of naive and a corresponding decrease in memory CD4(+) T cells in the blood compared with placebo. Conclusions: Inhibition of CD28-mediated costimulation with abatacept does not seem to alter the inflammatory response to segmental allergen challenge or clinical measures of asthma symptoms in people with mild atopic asthma. Clinical trial registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT 00784459).