TY - JOUR JO - Central European Journal of Immunology SN - 1426-3912 VL - 40 IS - 4 PY - 2015 ID - Kostova2015 TI - Ragweed-allergic subjects have decreased serum levels of chemokines CCL2, CCL3, CCL4 and CCL5 out of the pollen season AB - CC-chemokines are important mediators of the allergic responses and regulate the cell trafficking. The aim of this study was to examine the serum levels of CCL2/MCP-1, CCL3/MIP-1, CCL4/MIP-1 and CCL5/RANTES, and to determine whether there are differences between ragweed-allergic subjects and healthy individuals out of the pollen season. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 24 subjects allergic to ragweed pollen and 12 healthy controls. Serum concentrations of chemokines/cytokines were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We observed significantly decreased concentrations of CCL2/MCP-1, CCL3/MIP-1, CCL4/MIP-1 and CCL5/RANTES in the sera of ragweed-allergic patients compared to the healthy individuals (32.2 vs. 106.4 pg/ml, 89.5 vs. 135.7 pg/ml, 63.4 vs. 119.2 pg/ml and 11.2 vs. 18.1 ng/ml, respectively, p < 0.01). In contrast to the CC-chemokines, the serum levels of IL-8/CXCL8 showed a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the allergic group compared to the non-allergic subjects. Interleukin 4 levels were similar in both groups. In the sera of allergic patients, we have also detected significantly elevated levels of ragweed-specific IgE and IgG. However, decreased serum concentrations of the four CC-chemokines and elevated levels of IL-8/CXCL8 can be used as biomarkers for more accurate evaluation of the allergic status of patients with pollen allergy out of the season, to study the mechanisms for activation/inhibition of the subclinical allergic responses and for development of therapeutic strategies. AU - Kostova, Zhivka AU - Batsalova, Tsvetelina AU - Moten, Dzhemal AU - Teneva, Ivanka AU - Dzhambazov, Balik SP - 442 EP - 446 DA - 2015 DO - 10.5114/ceji.2015.56965 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5114/ceji.2015.56965 ER -