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  • Title: Unique profile of IL-4 and IFN-gamma production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in infants with atopic dermatitis.
    Author: Kimura M, Tsuruta S, Yoshida T.
    Journal: J Allergy Clin Immunol; 1998 Aug; 102(2):238-44. PubMed ID: 9723667.
    Abstract:
    Although the level of house dust mite (HDM)-specific lymphocyte proliferation is high in infants with atopic dermatitis (AD), the level of HDM-specific IgE antibody (HDM-IgE-RAST) is usually very low or negative. To elucidate the cause of the deficient HDM-specific IgE antibody formation in infants with AD, we examined the profile of IL-4 and IFN-gamma production by HDM-stimulated PBMCs. The amount of IL-4 production was higher in infants with AD and in children with AD (3 to 15 years) than in the nonatopic control subjects. Although the amount of IFN-gamma production in children with AD was lower than that found in nonatopic children, it was higher in infants with AD than in nonatopic infants. This result suggests that HDM-specific helper T lymphocytes in infants with AD have not yet differentiated into TH2 but rather stayed at the stage of TH0. The level of IgE-RAST for egg white (EW) is already elevated in infants with AD. The amount of IL-4 produced by EW-stimulated PBMCs was comparable to that produced by HDM-stimulated PBMCs in infants with AD. However, the amount of IFN-gamma produced by EW-stimulated PBMCs was distinctly lower than that produced by HDM-stimulated PBMCs in infants with AD. Although there was no correlation between the amount of IL-4 production by HDM-stimulated PBMCs and the level of HDM-IgE-RAST in infants with AD, the amount of IL-4 production by EW-stimulated PBMCs was closely correlated with the level of EW-IgE-RAST. These results suggest that it is not the lack of IL-4 but rather a relative increase in IFN-gamma production by HDM-specific helper T lymphocytes that causes the deficiency of HDM-specific IgE-antibody synthesis in infants with AD.
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