Antibodies to human IL-10 neutralize ebvIL-10-mediated cytokine suppression but have no effect on cmvIL-10 activity

Interleukin-10 is a pivotal determinant of virus clearance or persistence. Two human herpesviruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) are unique among persistent viruses because they not only trigger production of host IL-10, but both viruses also encode homologs of IL-10 that are expressed during infection. Because anti-human IL-10 antibodies have diagnostic value and therapeutic potential for many chronic infections, cross-reactivity with ebvIL-10 and cmvIL-10 was evaluated in this study. Six of seven anti-hIL-10 antibodies tested recognized ebvIL-10 and neutralized its immunosuppressive activity. In contrast, cmvIL-10 was neither recognized nor neutralized by any anti-human IL-10 antibody. These findings demonstrate that IL-10-neutralizing treatments in HCMV- or EBV-infected patients may require consideration of the contribution of viral IL-10 to disease pathology.