Abstract

Allergic diseases are caused by aberrant T-helper-2 immune responses in susceptible individuals. Both naturally occurring CD4⁺CD25⁺ regulatory T cells and inducible populations of antigen-specific interleukin-10-secreting regulatory T cells inhibit these inappropriate immune responses in experimental models. This article discusses the evidence that regulatory T-cell function might be impaired in allergic and asthmatic disease and that certain therapeutic regimens might function, at least in part, to promote regulatory T-cell generation. Current research strategies seek to exploit these observations to improve the generation of allergen-specific regulatory T-cell populations with the potential to provide the safe and long-term alleviation of disease symptoms.

Author affiliations

1. Department of Asthma, Allergy & Respiratory Science, Guy's Hospital, King's College London, London SE1 9RT, UK.
2. National Institute of Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK.

Correspondence to: C. M. Hawrylowicz¹ Email: catherine.hawrylowicz@kcl.ac.uk

Published online 18 March 2005

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.