Allergen sensitization stratifies IL-31 production by memory T cells in atopic dermatitis patients.

Background: The role of allergen sensitization in IL-31 production by T cells and specifically in the clinical context of atopic dermatitis (AD) has not been characterized.
Methods: The response to house dust mite (HDM) in purified memory T cells cocultured with epidermal cells from AD patients (n=58) and control subjects (n=11) was evaluated. AD-associated cytokines from culture supernatants, plasma proteins and mRNA expression from cutaneous lesions were assessed and related with the clinical features of the patients.
Results: HDM-induced IL-31 production by memory T cells defined two subsets of AD patients according to the presence or absence of IL-31 response. Patients in the IL-31 producing group showed a more inflammatory profile, and increased HDM-specific (sp) and total IgE levels compared to the IL-31 non-producing group. A correlation between IL-31 production and patient's pruritus intensity, plasma CCL27 and periostin was detected. When the same patients were analyzed based on sp IgE and total IgE levels, an increased IL-31 in vitro response, as well as type 2 markers in plasma and cutaneous lesions, was found in patients with sp IgE levels > 100 kUA/L and total IgE levels > 1000 kU/L. The IL-31 response by memory T cells was restricted to the cutaneous lymphocyte-associated antigen (CLA) ⁺ T-cell subset.
Conclusion: IgE sensitization to HDM allows stratifying IL-31 production by memory T cells in AD patients and relating it to particular clinical phenotypes of the disease.
Competing Interests: AG has received grants from AbbVie, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis and Sanofi, and lecture fees from AbbVie, Almirall, Leo Pharma and Sanofi. ES-B is a consultant for AbbVie, Almirall, Galderma, Genentec, Leo Pharma, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Pierre Fabre and Sanofi. LS-B is a consultant for AbbVie, Janssen, Leo Pharma, Novartis and Sanofi. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2023 Sans-de San Nicolàs, Figueras-Nart, García-Jiménez, Bonfill-Ortí, Guilabert, Curto-Barredo, Bertolín-Colilla, Ferran, Serra-Baldrich, Pujol and Santamaria-Babí.)