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Frequency of IL-10-producing T cells at baseline To evaluate the spontaneous production of IL-10, the frequencies of IL-10-producing cells, cultured for 4h without stimulation, were compared among groups. The frequency of IL-10-producing CD3+ cells in asthmatics was significantly higher than in healthy controls (P=0.008) (Figure 2, Top). The values from atopic nonasthmatics showed an intermediate distribution between healthy controls and asthmatics. The frequencies of IL-10-producing CD4+ cells in both atopic nonasthmatics and asthmatics were significantly higher than in healthy controls (P=0.029 and P=0.011, respectively) (Figure 2, Middle). The frequency of IL-10-producing CD8+ cells in asthmatics was also significantly higher than in healthy controls (P=0.015) (Figure 2, Bottom). The effect of stimulation on IL-10 production To investigate the effect of PMA and ionomycin on IL-10 production, the frequencies of IL-10-producing cells pre- and poststimulation were compared (Table 2). The stimulation significantly increased the frequencies of IL-10-producing CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells in healthy controls (P=0.003, P=0.007 and P=0.005, respectively). In atopic nonasthmatics, the stimulation significantly increased the frequency of IL-10-producing CD3+ cells (P=0.008), whereas for CD4+ and CD8+ cells, the effect did not reach statistical significance (P=0.066 and P=0.051, respectively). In asthmatics, however, the stimulation did not show any effect on the frequencies of IL-10-producing CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells. There was no difference in the frequencies of IL-10-producing CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ cells after stimulation among groups. Figure 2) The frequency of interleukin (IL)-10-producing CD3+ cells in atopic asthmatics was significantly higher than in healthy controls. The frequencies of IL-10-producing CD4+ cells in both atopic nonasthmatics and asthmatics were significantly higher than in healthy controls. The frequency of IL-10-producing CD8+ cells in asthmatics was also significantly higher than in healthy controls. *P<0.05