Proteomic Profile Differences in Immune-Related Diseases in Pediatric Patients Under Five Years Old: Asthma and...

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease that often begins in childhood and frequently occurs alongside allergic conditions. In asthma research, it is important to focus on proteins that are the primary regulators of cellular physiology. The differences in the proteome between children with asthma and those with an atopic background remain poorly understood. The present study included 130 serum samples from four groups of pediatric patients under the age of five: (1) with asthma and IgE-dependent allergies; (2) with non-atopic asthma; (3) non-asthmatics with IgE-dependent allergy; and (4) a control group without asthma and IgE-dependent allergies. The serum samples were used for protein-peptide profiling and proteomic identification using nanoLC-MALDI-TOF/TOF MS/MS. The obtained data were analyzed using univariate statistics and the STRING tool v12.0 to identify protein-protein potential interactions. A total of seven proteins were identified as discriminative between the study groups: A2M, AACT, IgG3, C3, ITIH2, IgG3 and IGK. All of them were upregulated in patients with IgE-dependent allergy compared to other study groups. STRING analysis identified functional associations among four proteins (AACT, A2M, C3, and ITIH2) with discriminatory potential for distinguishing between non-atopic asthma and non-asthmatic patients with IgE-dependent allergy. The results suggest that the identified putative protein markers overlap in cellular pathways, including those associated with the pathophysiology of asthma and allergic disorders. These findings provide further insight into the overall proteomic profile of pediatric patients with asthma and IgE-dependent allergy, highlighting its heterogeneity across the analyzed groups.