AIM: To explore the effects of sterigmatocystin (ST) on IL-4 expression and secretion of murine spleen cells in vitro. METHODS: The secretion and expression of IL-4 in murine spleen cells were studied with ELISA and semi-quantitative RT-PCR method after ST pretreatment at five different dosages (0.125 mg/L, 0.25 mg/L, 0.5 mg/L, 1 mg/L, 2 mg/L) for 2 h and 12 h, respectively. RESULTS: Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the expression of IL-4 mRNA in ST 0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/L treated groups were higher than that in control group, especially in ST 0.5 mg/L group ( P

AIM: To explore the putative effects of sterigmatocystin (ST) on human help T lymphocyte(Th1)function. METHODS: The effects of ST on interferon-?(IFN-?)secretion of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells(HPBMc) in vitro were determined with ELISA method. RESULTS: The effects of ST on IFN-? secretion of HPBMc in vitro were closely dependent on ST concentrations. ST at relatively lower concentrations (0.03125-0.12500 mg/L) showed inhibiting effects on IFN-? secretion. While, stimulating effects could be found when ST concentration was above 0.25mg/L. The highest level was seen in ST 1 mg/L group ( P