Elevated Serum Levels of Neopterin in Patients with Behçet's Disease.
10.5021/ad.1993.5.2.74
- Author:
Juho YOON
;
Seung Hun LEE
;
Dongsik BANG
;
Sungnack LEE
;
Jung Chul KIM
;
Tai Ho CHUNG
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Behçet's disease;
Interferon-gamma;
Neopterin
- MeSH:
Humans;
Interferon-gamma;
Lymphocytes;
Neopterin*;
Radioimmunoassay;
T-Lymphocytes
- From:Annals of Dermatology
1993;5(2):74-78
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Neopterin is released from monocytes/macrophages specifically by stimulation with interferon-γ. Therefore the increase refers to the activation of T lymphocytes. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to examine the potential role of neopterin in the cell mediated immune response to Behçet's disease. METHODS: We studied 67 patients of Behçet's disease classified by Shimizu and a control group of 30 normal healthy people. Serum neopterin was detected by radioimmunoassay technique. RESULTS: The serum neopterin concentration of the group with Behçet's disease was significantly elevated, compared with the control group (6.36 nmol/ml vs 3.63 nmol/ml). The increase of neopterin concentration was well correlated to the clinical severity of the diseases in increasing order. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that the T lymphocyte derived IFN-γ which stimulates the production of neopterin has some role in the pathogenesis and clinical severity of Behçet's disease.
