Short-term stimulation with interleukin (IL)-4 enhances purified protein derivative-induced production of an eosinophil chemotactic lymphokine, but suppresses IL-5 production

• Main Authors: Takehiko Nishiyama, Taishi Hata, Hiroki Okada, Mitsuomi Hiroshima
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 1998-01-01
• Series: Allergology International
• Subjects: eosinophil chemotactic lymphokine; granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor; interferon-γ; interleukin-4; interleukin-5; RANTES
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1323893015315367

The effect of interleukin (IL)-4 on eosinophil chemotactic lymphokine (ECL) production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with purified protein derivative (PPD) was examined. The PBMC stimulated with PPD in the absence of IL-4 failed to produce evident ECL. However, PPD-induced eosinophil chemotactic activity (ECA) production was markedly enhanced in a dose-dependent manner by pretreatment of PBMC with IL-4. The most potent enhancement was induced by IL-4 at a concentration of 30 U in tuberculin-sensitive PBMC. Short-term pretreatment (30 min to 3 h) was sufficient for the enhancement, whereas longer-term treatment was less effective. Eosinophil chemotactic lymphokine was found to be a CD4+ T cell-derived factor with an isoelectric point of approximately pH 7.0 and without heparin affinity, unlike chemokines such as RANTES and eotaxin. The effect of IL-4 on the production of other cytokines, such as interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-5, RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T expressed and secreted), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was also examined. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells produced all these cytokines when they were treated with PPD, even in the absence of IL-4. When PBMC were pretreated with IL-4, interestingly not only IFNy but also IL-5 production was suppressed by pretreatment with IL-4, although ECL production was enhanced by the pretreatment. In the case of RANTES and GM-CSF, significant amounts of these cytokines were produced, even without antigenic stimulation, and IL-4 pretreatment did not result in an enhancement of their production. It is thus suggested that IL-4, existing in allergic lesions, plays a crucial role in eosinophil accumulation mediated by the T cell-derived ECL.