Manipulation of the superantigen-induced lymphokine response. Selective induction of interleukin-10 or interferon-gamma synthesis in small resting CD4+ T cells.

The production of several lymphokines by freshly isolated CD4+ T cells has been analyzed at the single-cell level, after stimulation with staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). High frequencies of cells producing interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were induced, but very low frequencies of CD4+ T cells produced IL-4, IL-5 or IL-10 in response to SEB. Exogenously added IL-4 markedly altered the lymphokine profile induced during primary SEB stimulation. IFN-gamma production was reduced, while a high fraction of cells contained IL-10 and IL-4 after activation in the presence of IL-4. We further demonstrate that IL-4 and IL-10 or IFN-gamma production was selectively induced in resting, high-density CD4+ T cells during primary stimulation, by SEB + IL-4 or SEB. Under conditions where both IL-10 and IFN-gamma were produced, most cells contained only one of the two lymphokines.