Anti-inflammatory action of theophylline in asthma may be mediated through reduction of dendritic cells

Theophylline has an anti-inflammatory action that may be mediated in part through reduction of inflammatory cells in the airways.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells, capable of priming naïve T cells, and play key roles in the activation of immune responses in asthma.


Dendritic cells are the key antigen presenting cells of the immune system. This video describes how they do this. This video is from: Janeway's Immunobiology, 7th Edition.

Peripheral human blood monocytes were incubated with:
- theophylline
- KF17837 (a selective A2a receptor antagonist)
- enprofylline (A2b receptor antagonist)
- and co-incubated with selective adenosine A1 and A2a receptor agonists to determine their effects on DC differentiation

The number of DCs was remarkably reduced by 60-70% by theophylline. This effect was reversed by the addition of A1 agonists or A2a agonist.

These findings suggest that the adenosine A1 and A2a receptors contribute to DC differentiation and survival.

References:
Theophylline inhibits the differentiation of human monocyte into dendritic cell potentially via adenosine receptor antagonism. Yasui K, Kondo Y, Wada T, Yashiro M, Tsuge M, Morishima T. Clin Exp Allergy. 2009 Dec;39(12):1857-65

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