Journal of Cytology & Histology

Immunoreactivity for Interleukin-33 in Allergic Airway Inflammation

Abstract

Cristan Herbert, Melissa M. Bunting, Neil Lambie, Paul S. Thomas and Rakesh K. Kumar

Interleukin (IL)-33 is a cytokine that has key roles in the induction and perpetuation of allergic inflammation. It is strongly expressed by airway epithelial cells, but there is controversy about whether immunoreactivity is localised only to the nucleus or is also present in the cytoplasm. We investigated IL-33 immunoreactivity in airway tissues in a mouse model of an acute exacerbation of chronic asthma, in human asthmatic airway tissue, and in airway tissue from patients with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. We demonstrated that cytoplasmic immunoreactivity in airway epithelial cells was dependent both upon the target species and the severity of the allergic inflammatory response. Furthermore, using double immunolabelling, we showed that immunoglobulin-synthesising plasma cells express high levels of IL-33, which could contribute to allergic inflammation.