Relationship between interferon-gamma, interleukin-4 and IgE production of lymphocytes from hen's egg-sensitive...

We measured in vitro interferon-gamma, interleukin-4 and IgE production of peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with ovalbumin. Interferon-gamma in culture supernatants of ovalbumin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from hen's egg- sensitive patients with atopic dermatitis was significantly higher than that of healthy children or hen's egg-sensitive patients with immediate symptoms. Furthermore, in patients with atopic dermatitis who were sensitive to hen's egg and patients with immediate symptoms, there was an inverse relationship between interferon-gamma and IgE production (r = -0.535, p <0.05), and significant correlation was found between interleukin-4 and IgE production (r = 0.802, p <0.05). For the above reasons, IgE synthesis of ovalbumin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells may be suppressed by interferon-gamma in patients with atopic dermatitis. In contrast, in patients with immediate symptoms, interleukin-4 may play a major role in the pathogenesis of increased IgE production.