We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Enhanced IL-4 Production and IL-4 Receptor Expression in Atopic Dermatitis and Their Modulation by Interferon-Gamma.
- Authors
Renz, Harald; Jujo, Kazuhito; Bradley, Katherine L.; Domenico, Joanne; Gelfand, Erwin W.; Leung, Donald Y. M.
- Abstract
The in vivo and in vitro immunomodulatory effects of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) treatment on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and elevated IgE levels were studied. As part of a double blind placebo-controlled clinical trial, 14 AD patients were treated with IFN-γ (n = 7) or saline (n = 7) for 12 weeks. To assess the in vivo effects of IFN-γ treatment on interleukin (IL)-4 - dependent lymphocyte function, we assessed the proliferation of AD PBMC in response to IL-4. Prior to IFN-γ treatment, AD PBMC had proportionately decreased proliferative responses to IL-4 when compared to IL-2. After 12 weeks of in vivo treatment with IFN-γ, there was an increase of IL-4 - but not IL-2 - induced lymphocyte proliferation in seven of eight AD patients. To further study the immunologic basis of these observations, we studied the expression of IL-4 receptor (IL-4R) mRNA and the production of IL-4 by PBMC from AD patients. PBMC from AD patients expressed higher levels of IL-4R mRNA and produced significantly higher amount of IL-4 than normal controls (p < 0.05). More importantly, the in Vitro addition of IFN-γ caused significant reduction in both IL-4R mRNA expression and IL-4 production of PBMC from AD and non-atopic controls. These data indicate that AD is characterized by an in vivo overstimulation of the IL-4- IL-4R pathway. The poor proliferative responses of untreated AD PBMC to exogenous IL-4 may be due to increased levels of endogenous IL-4 production with constant occupancy of the IL-4R. Furthermore, in vivo and in vitro treatment with IFN-γ down-regulates this pathway.
- Subjects
THERAPEUTICS; CLINICAL trials; PATIENTS; PLACEBOS; MESSENGER RNA; IMMUNOLOGY
- Publication
Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 1992, Vol 99, Issue 4, p403
- ISSN
0022-202X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/1523-1747.ep12616114