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International Journal of Biomedical Science
4(1) 8-13
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© 2005 Master Publishing Group
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Review Article
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Synergistic Effect of Various Regulatory Factors in Th1/Th2 Balance; Immunotherapeutic Approaches in Asthma |
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Young-Cheol Lee
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Department of Herbology, College of Oriental Medicine, Sangji University, Wonju 220-702, Republic of Korea
Corresponding author: Young-Cheol Lee, Department of Herbology, College of Oriental Medicine, Sangji University, Wonju 220-702, Republic of Korea. Tel: +82 33 730 0672; Fax: +82 33 730 0653; E-mail: lyc072@sangji.ac.kr. |
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regulatory T cell; Th1/Th2; IL-4; IFN-γ; asthma |
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The immune balance controlled by T helper 1 (Th1) and T helper 2 (Th2) is crucial for immunoregulation and its imbalance causes various immune diseases including allergic asthma. Therefore, diagnosis of Th1/Th2 balance in autoimmune diseases including asthma is essential for the application of immune balance regulating drugs. Th1/Th2 balance is not only controlled by Th1 cells and Th2 cells, but also by various regulatory factors including regulatory T cells, sexual factor, chemokines, transcription factors, signal transduction pathway (STAT6) etc. From that point of view, conception of ‘‘Th1/Th2 balance’’ resembles the balance of yin and yang which is main concept of Korean traditional medicine for treatment diseases. This article discusses various regulatory factors that influence Th1/Th2. Current research strategies seek to exploit these observations to improve the generation of novel targets for regulating Th1/Th2 balance. The Th1/Th2 balance could be influenced by imunomodulatory drugs (including herbs, prescription and its main components) but this way of therapy needs further evaluation focused on this various factors and synergistic effect.
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