%0 Journal Article
%T Is there a role for glucocorticoid receptor beta in asthma?
%A Gagliardo Rosalia
%A Vignola Antonio
%A Mathieu Marc
%J Respiratory Research
%D 2001
%I BioMed Central
%X Glucocorticoids (GCs) are routinely used as anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of asthma. They act through binding to glucocorticoid receptor ¦Á (GR¦Á), which represses numerous genes encoding pro-inflammatory mediators. A hormone binding deficient GR isoform named GR¦Â has been isolated in humans. When overexpressed by transfection, GR¦Â may function as a dominant negative modulator of GR¦Á. However, to act as such, GR¦Â has to be more abundant than GR¦Á, and conflicting data have been obtained concerning the relative levels of the two isoforms in cell lines and freshly isolated cells. Moreover, the dominant negative effect was not confirmed by independent laboratories. In GC-resistant asthmatics, GR¦Â was expressed by an increased number of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), airway T cells, and cells found in skin biopsies of tuberculin responses. However, the relative amounts of GR¦Á and GR¦Â in these cells were not determined. In GC-dependent asthmatics, PBMCs expressed GR¦Á predominantly. No cells containing higher levels of GR¦Â than GR¦Á have yet been reported in asthmatics. Even if the existence of such cells is demonstrated, the role of GR¦Â in asthma will remain a matter of controversy because functional studies have given discrepant data.
%K asthma
%K glucocorticoid receptor
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/rr31