Cytokine gene activation and modified responsiveness to interleukin-2 in the blood of tuberculosis patients. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Selected parameters of cellular immunity relating to cytokine gene activation and responsiveness to interleukin-2 (IL-2) were analyzed in 27 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis and no human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection. Cytokine mRNAs were not expressed by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of normal controls. In PBMC of tuberculosis patients, messages for IL-1, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were uniformly expressed, whereas PBMC of only 5 of 18 patients expressed IL-6. PBMC of 7 patients (all of those with systemic symptoms) expressed interferon-gamma mRNA and none expressed IL-2 mRNA. Most patients' cells demonstrated IL-4 mRNA. Limiting dilution analysis of IL-2-responsive cells in PBMC revealed that tuberculosis patients had 10-fold fewer IL-2-responsive cells than did controls.

publication date

  • October 1, 1993

Research

keywords

  • Cytokines
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Interleukin-2
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0027214703

PubMed ID

  • 8376820

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 168

issue

  • 4