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[A study on using rIL-4 and IFN-gamma to regulate IgE synthesis in bronchial asthma patients in vitro]
Objective:
In order to elucidate the cytokines responsible for altered IgE producing in patients with asthma.
Methods:
The in vitro effects of recombinant interleukin-4 (rIL-4) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on synthesis of IgE by peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) were studied.
Results:
Spontaneous IgE synthesis by PBMC was significantly increased in patients with asthma compared with the controls (t = 4. 4712, P < 0.001). Although the maximum amounts of IgE synthesis using PBMC after stimulation with rIL-4 were almost the same both in patients with asthma and in controls (t = 0.0620, P > 0.05), the enhancement rate of rIL-4-induced IgE synthesis was lower in asthma tic patients than in the controls (t = 4. 6719, P < 0.005). IFN-gamma suppressed not only spontaneous but also rIL-4-induced IgE synthesis by PBMC in asthmatic patients. The suppressive effect on IgE synthesis was more prominent in patients with asthma than in the controls (t = 7.1833, P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
These results suggest that asthma attacks are related to IgE- dependent trigger mechanism; the imbalance of Il-4 and IFN-gamma in vivo is involved in the development of asthma.