Morais Clarice Neuenschwander Lins de, Souza Joelma Rodrigues de, Melo Wlademir Gomes, Aroucha Marcílio L, Miranda Paulo, Domingues Ana Lúcia Coutinho, Abath Frederico Guilherme Coutinho, Montenegro Silvia Maria Lucena
Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães-Fiocruz, Recife, PE, Brasil.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2008 Sep;103(6):561-8. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02762008000600009.
The production and regulation of interleukin (IL) IL-13, IL-4 and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) was evaluated in 43 schistosomiasis patients with different clinical forms. Whole-blood cultures cytokine production in response to soluble egg antigen (SEA), soluble worm adult preparation (SWAP), mitogens, neutralizing antibodies or recombinant IL-13 were measured by ELISA. After SWAP stimulation, chronic patients, particularly hepatointestinals, produced higher levels of IL-4 in comparison with acute patients, suggesting the presence of a type 2 cytokine profile in these patients. Following SEA and SWAP stimulation, hepatosplenic (HS) patients showed increased levels of IFN-gamma when compared with acute patients, indicating that HS disease in humans is associated with a type 1 cytokine response. The mechanisms of immune regulation are apparently different between the clinical stages of the disease, some of which are antigen-specific.
