Interleukin 4 responses in acute leukaemia patients with severe chemotherapy-induced leucopenia

T lymphocyte functions in acute leukaemia patients with severe chemotherapy-induced leucopenia were investigated using 3 different approaches: (i) analysis of serum concentrations of the T cell cytokine interleukin 4 (IL4) demonstrated that serum IL4 levels increased during complicating bacterial infections. However, this response was modulated by a concomitant increase in serum levels of the potential IL4 antagonist soluble IL4 receptor alpha chain (sIL4R alpha). (ii) Even during leucopenia a subset of T lymphocytes derived from leucopenic patients expressed the activation markers CD25 (IL2 receptor), CD71 (transferrin receptor) and HLA-DR. (iii) Subsets of circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes could undergo clonogenic proliferation in vitro, and a majority of these clones secreted IL4. CD4+ clones showed higher IL4 levels than CD8+ clones. Our results indicate that T lymphocytes can be activated and contribute to cytokine responses in acute leukaemia patients with severe chemotherapy-induced cytopenia.