Nath I, Vemuri N, Reddi A L, Bharadwaj M, Brooks P, Colston M J, Misra R S, Ramesh V
Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Lepr Rev. 2000 Dec;71 Suppl:S130-7. doi: 10.5935/0305-7518.20000084.
In order to increase our understanding of the immunological basis of erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL), we studied Th-like cytokine profiles in 130 leprosy patients, employing both the conventional and a novel, real-time, fluorogenic reverse transcriptase-based PCR (RT-PCR). The concomitant expression of both Th-like cytokines, interferon-gamma and IL-4, and the regulatory cytokines, IL-10 and IL-12, was studied in the peripheral blood cells of leprosy patients with and without ENL. In the conventional RT-PCR, varied cytokine profiles were observed in individual patients of all clinical types. Fifty-three percent of lepromatous patients without ENL and 59% of tuberculoid leprosy patients showed co-expression of IFN gamma and IL-4, indicating a non-polarized Th 0 pattern. Of the 36 patients with ENL, 58% demonstrated a polarized Th 1 pattern, with only 30% expressing both cytokines. Semiquantitative RT-PCR indicated a lower expression of IL-4 compared to that of IFN gamma in the lepromatous patients without ENL; the difference was even greater among those with ENL. The sensitive, real-time PCR confirmed the down-regulation of IL-4 and IL-10, with absence of IL-4 in half of the patients, resulting in skewing of the cytokine response toward a Th 1-like profile.
为了增进我们对麻风结节性红斑（ENL）免疫基础的理解，我们采用传统方法以及一种基于荧光实时逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）的新型方法，对130例麻风患者的Th样细胞因子谱进行了研究。我们研究了伴有或不伴有ENL的麻风患者外周血细胞中Th样细胞因子干扰素-γ和IL-4以及调节性细胞因子IL-10和IL-12的同时表达情况。在传统RT-PCR中，所有临床类型的个体患者均观察到不同的细胞因子谱。53%的无ENL的瘤型麻风患者和59%的结核样型麻风患者表现出IFNγ和IL-4的共表达，表明为非极化的Th0模式。在36例ENL患者中，58%表现出极化的Th1模式，只有30%的患者同时表达这两种细胞因子。半定量RT-PCR表明，在无ENL的瘤型麻风患者中，IL-4的表达低于IFNγ；在有ENL的患者中，这种差异更大。灵敏的实时PCR证实了IL-4和IL-10的下调，半数患者中无IL-4表达，导致细胞因子反应偏向Th1样谱。
