Currently, there are no reliable pediatric biomarkers for assessing the severity of asthma. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the potential of glucocorticoid-induced TNFR-related ligand (GITRL) in assessing asthma severity. Bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) were isolated and treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or house dust mites (HDM). Flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and RT-qPCR results revealed that GITRL expression was increased in HDM-treated BMDCs (p < 0.05). An asthma mouse model was established using HDM. Asthmatic mice exhibited significantly increased lung inflammation scores, serum IgE, total cell counts, and eosinophil counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) (p < 0.05). Tissue immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry indicated elevated GITRL expression levels (p = 0.03). Flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from children showed that the proportion of GITRL + dendritic cells (DCs) and the mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of GITRL were significantly increased in asthmatic children compared with healthy individuals (p < 0.01). RT-qPCR analysis showed that GITRL mRNA expression levels were significantly elevated in children with moderate-to-severe asthma compared to those with mild asthma (p = 0.006), and GITRL mRNA levels were higher in both groups of asthmatic children than in healthy controls (p < 0.05). Correlation analysis indicated that GITRL expression was negatively correlated with lung function and the Children's Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) score (p < 0.001). ROC analysis assessed its diagnostic value, with AUC values of 0.89 (asthma vs. healthy diagnosis) and 0.70 (distinguishing moderate-to-severe from mild asthma). These findings suggest that GITRL is an important biomarker for assessing asthma severity.
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2025 The Author(s). Pediatric Discovery published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University.
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