Increase of chemokine levels in sputum precedes exacerbation of acute asthma attacks.

Basophils and eosinophils can be activated in vitro by several chemokines such as RANTES, monocyte chemotactic and activating factor (MCAF/MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory peptide-1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha), and interleukin-8 (IL-8). To explore the clinical relevance of the in vitro observations, we measured here the concentrations of these chemokines in sputa from asthmatic patients during acute attacks. Before the onset of a late-phase exacerbation, sputum MCAF/MCP-1, MIP-1 alpha, and IL-8 levels transiently but markedly increased from the basal levels in all of the patients with exacerbation, whereas the sputum levels of these chemokines remained unchanged during the course in the patients without a late-phase exacerbation. These results suggest the involvement of these chemokines in the late-phase exacerbation of asthma.