PURPOSE: Atopic dermatitis is characterized by reduced IFN-gamma production and increased IL-4 production. As a result, IgE production increases in atopic dermatitis. In the previous studies, it was reported that recombinant IFN-gamma therapy is effective in treatment of severe atopic dermatitis. In this study, changes of plasma IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 concentration by IFN-gamma therapy were studied in atopic dermatitis. Changes of plasma IgE levels and eosinophil counts were also investigated in the present report. METHODS: Sixty-five atopic dermatitis patients were studied. Diagnostic criteria for atopic dermatitis were those used by Hanifin and Rajka. Patients received 2x106 units/m2 IFN-gamma by subcutaneous injection eighteen times for six weeks. The following investigations were performed : complete blood cell count, total IgE, eosinophil percentage and total eosinophil count in addition to plasma IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 concentration. RESULTS: Plasma concentrations of IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 decreased by IFN-gamma therapy in atopic dermatitis. However, plasma IFN-gamma concentration was not changed. No significant correlations among the changes of IgE, eosinophil counts and plasma cytokine concentrations were detected. CONCLUSION: Plasma concentrations of Th2 cytokine such as IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 decreased by IFN-gamma therapy. This study suggests that Th2 cytokines might not be produced simulaneously. and that changes of Th2 cytokines might not affect the quantitiative changes of IgE and of eosinophil count.
Blood Cell Count ; Cytokines* ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Interferons* ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-4 ; Interleukin-5 ; Plasma*

PURPOSE: Atopic dermatitis is characterized by reduced IFN-gamma production and increased IL-4 production. As a result, IgE production increases in atopic dermatitis. In the previous studies, it was reported that recombinant IFN-gamma therapy is effective in treatment of severe atopic dermatitis. In this study, changes of plasma IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 concentration by IFN-gamma therapy were studied in atopic dermatitis. Changes of plasma IgE levels and eosinophil counts were also investigated in the present report. METHODS: Sixty-five atopic dermatitis patients were studied. Diagnostic criteria for atopic dermatitis were those used by Hanifin and Rajka. Patients received 2x106 units/m2 IFN-gamma by subcutaneous injection eighteen times for six weeks. The following investigations were performed : complete blood cell count, total IgE, eosinophil percentage and total eosinophil count in addition to plasma IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 concentration. RESULTS: Plasma concentrations of IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 decreased by IFN-gamma therapy in atopic dermatitis. However, plasma IFN-gamma concentration was not changed. No significant correlations among the changes of IgE, eosinophil counts and plasma cytokine concentrations were detected. CONCLUSION: Plasma concentrations of Th2 cytokine such as IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 decreased by IFN-gamma therapy. This study suggests that Th2 cytokines might not be produced simulaneously. and that changes of Th2 cytokines might not affect the quantitiative changes of IgE and of eosinophil count.
Blood Cell Count ; Cytokines* ; Dermatitis, Atopic* ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Interferons* ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-4 ; Interleukin-5 ; Plasma*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of cytokine levels on early death and coagulation function of patients with newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). METHODS: Routine examination was performed on 69 newly diagnosed APL patients at admission. Meanwhile, 4 ml fasting venous blood was extracted from the patients. And then the supernatant was taken after centrifugation. The concentrations of cytokines, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and ferritin were detected by using the corresponding kits. RESULTS: It was confirmed that cerebral hemorrhage was a major cause of early death in APL patients. Elevated LDH, decreased platelets (PLT) count and prolonged prothrombin time (PT) were high risk factors for early death (P <0.05). The increases of IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p70 and IL-17A were closely related to the early death of newly diagnosed APL patients, and the increases of IL-5 and IL-17A also induced coagulation disorder in APL patients by prolonging PT (P <0.05). In newly diagnosed APL patients, ferritin and LDH showed a positive effect on the expression of IL-5, IL-10 and IL-17A, especially ferritin had a highly positive correlation with IL-5 (r =0.867) and IL-17A (r =0.841). Moreover, there was a certain correlation between these five high-risk cytokines, among which IL-5 and IL-17A (r =0.827), IL-6 and IL-10 (r =0.823) were highly positively correlated. CONCLUSION Elevated cytokine levels in newly diagnosed APL patients increase the risk of early bleeding and death. In addition to the interaction between cytokines themselves, ferritin and LDH positively affect the expression of cytokines, thus affecting the prognosis of APL patients.
Humans ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute/diagnosis* ; Cytokines/metabolism* ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-17/metabolism* ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; Interleukin-5/metabolism* ; Blood Coagulation Disorders ; Ferritins ; Tretinoin

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of Ziyinqingsang decoction on the levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-5 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in children with cough variant asthma (CVA) in the acute stage.

METHODSThirty children with CVA in the acute stage were given Ziyinqingsang decoction for 2 weeks. The IL-4 and IL-5 levels in the PBMCs were determined using ELISA before and after the treatment, and the changes of the clinical symptoms were observed.

RESULTSThe levels of IL-4 and IL-5 in the PBMCs was 89.69∓13.82 ng/l and 12.17∓0.43 ng/ml before the treatment, which were significantly reduced to 72.18∓14.89 ng/l and 5.81∓0.31 ng/ml after the treatment (P<0.05). The symptoms including coughing, pharyngodynia, and pharyngo-itch were all improved obviously (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONZiyinqingsang decoction ameliorates the symptoms of CVA in the acute stage probably by decreasing the levels of IL-4 and IL-5 in the PBMCs of the children.

Asthma ; blood ; drug therapy ; Child ; Cough ; blood ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-4 ; blood ; Interleukin-5 ; blood ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; Male ; Phytotherapy

OBJECTIVETo study the roles of IL-4, IL-5 and IgE in childhood cough variant asthma (CVA).

METHODSThe IL-4 and IL-5 levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) and the serum IgE levels were determined using ELISA in children with CVA in the acute stage (n=21) and in the convalesce stage (n=9). The samples from 30 children with acute bronchial asthma and from 30 healthy children were used as controls.

RESULTSThe levels of PBMC IL-4 (91.57 +/- 12.19 ng/L) and IL-5 (13.28 +/- 0.31 ng/mL) in children with CVA in the acute stage were significantly higher than those in the convalesce stage (74.68 +/- 11.54 ng/L, 6.53 +/- 0.28 ng/mL) and also higher than those in the healthy controls (70.32 +/- 18.16 ng/L, 5.29 +/- 0.36 ng/mL) (P < 0.01). The levels of serum IgE in children with CVA in the acute stage (279.6 +/- 41.3 KU /L) were strikingly higher than those in the convalesce stage (153.8 +/- 37.5 KU/L) (P < 0.01). The levels of serum IgE in children with CVA either in the acute stage or in the convalesce stage were significantly higher than those in healthy controls (90.6 +/- 44.8 KU /L) (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in the levels of IL-4, IL-5 and IgE between children with acute CVA and acute asthma.

CONCLUSIONSA combined determination of PBMC IL-4 and IL-5 and serum IgE may be valuable for the diagnosis and the outcome evaluation of CVA. IL-4 and IL-5 may play a role in the pathogenesis of CVA. It is speculated that CVA may have similar pathogenesis to bronchial asthma since acute CVA patients have similar IL-4, IL-5 and IgE levels to children with acute bronchial asthma.

Asthma ; immunology ; Child, Preschool ; Cough ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; blood ; Infant ; Interleukin-4 ; blood ; physiology ; Interleukin-5 ; blood ; physiology ; Male

PURPOSE: The nephrotic syndrome (NS) is characterized by the favorable response to glucocorticoid therapy and the development of NS may be associated with dysfunctional immune systems. In order to investigate the serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels and cytokines activity in pediatric NS, the total of 32 steroid responsive NS patients and 5 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients were divided into two groups according to the initial serum IgE levels, such as normal and high IgE group, and their clinical characteristics were evaluated. In addition, serum levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta were compared and correlated with serum albumin, proteinuria by means of disease severity, and cytokines. RESULTS: In the high IgE group, the higher comorbidity of allergic diseases and relapsing rate, the longer duration of steroid therapy before initial remission, and the higher serum IL-4 and IL-5 levels were found. In all patients, initially higher serum levels of IL-4 and IL-5 declined to normal levels after steroid therapy, whereas the serum IL-10 levels showed no significant difference between nephrotic phase (heavy proteinuria) and remission phase (no proteinuria) of NS. The serum TGF-beta levels of the nephrotic phase were significantly lower than those of remission phase or control group, and returned to normal control levels after steroid therapy. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that initial IgE level is associated with steroid responsiveness and disease severity, and cytokine activities may also be related to the pathogenesis of pediatric steroid responsive NS.
Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cytokines/*blood ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A/blood ; Immunoglobulin E/*blood ; Immunoglobulin G/blood ; Immunoglobulin M/blood ; Infant ; Interleukin-4/blood ; Interleukin-5/blood ; Male ; Nephrotic Syndrome/*blood/*drug therapy ; Steroids/*therapeutic use ; Transforming Growth Factor beta/blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (polyI:C) on the production of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) and airway inflammation in mice with exacerbated asthma induced by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

METHODSThirty-two female BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 4 groups, namely the PBS control group, OVA group, OVA/RSV group, and OVA/RSV/polyI:C group. In the latter 3 groups, the mice were sensitized by OVA and stimulated with nebulized OVA. RSV was inoculated into the nasal cavity of the sensitized mice and polyI:C (1 mg/kg) was intramuscularly administered. The airway response to metacholine was examined, and the serum levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, and IFN-γ and TSLP in the supernatants of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected using ELISA. The total BALF cells, eosinophils, lymphocytes and neutrophils were counted. The lung specimens were collected to observe the inflammation with HE staining, and immunohistochemistry was employed to determine TSLP production in the airway epithelial cells.

RESULTSThe mice in RSV/OVA/polyI:C group showed a significantly lower airway responsiveness to metacholine than those in OVA/RSV group (P<0.01). Compared with OVA/RSV group, RSV/OVA/polyI:C group showed significantly lower serum levels of IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 and TSLP in BALF (P<0.05), with also lower total BALF cells, eosinophils and lymphocytes (P<0.05) and lessened infiltration of the airway inflammatory cells. Immunohistochemistry of TSLP also demonstrated a lower production of TSLP in the airway epithelial cells in RSV/OVA/polyI:C group than in OVA/RSV group.

CONCLUSIONSpolyI:C can inhibit the increase in TSLP production in the airway epithelial cells after RSV infection and relieve airway inflammation in mice with RSV-induced asthma exacerbation.

Animals ; Asthma ; blood ; metabolism ; virology ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; Cytokines ; secretion ; Female ; Inflammation ; pathology ; Interleukin-13 ; blood ; Interleukin-4 ; blood ; Interleukin-5 ; blood ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Poly I-C ; pharmacology ; Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections ; blood ; metabolism ; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy, safety and possible mechanism of specific immunotherapy in treating perennial allergic rhinitis. METHOD: Thirty patients with perennial allergic rhinitis were treated by specific immunotherapy for three years. Its clinical symptoms and signs were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty patients were contacted once again in 2006 for a follow up study. Controlled group were 30 perennial allergic rhinitis patients who were treated with medication only (antihistamines and intranasal corticosteroids) when necessary. Healthy group were 10 healthy people without allergic rhinitis. the values of immunity index (IL-2, IL-4 and IL-5 level in venous blood) were observed. RESULT: (1) The effect evaluation of SIT: The total effective rate was 90.00% in the treatment group post-treatment, 86.67% in controlled group. There was no significance between them (P > 0.05). The score of clinical symptoms and signs of pretreatment was 11.10 +/- 1.53, that of post-treatment was 3.88 +/- 2.71. There was significance between them by statistics evaluation (P < 0.01). (2) Blood serum IL-2, IL-4 and IL-5 determine: there was immunological dysfunction in controlled group patients, manifesting as low IL-2 level and high IL-4 and IL-5 level, which had significant difference compared with healthy group ( P < 0.01). The group treated by specific immunotherapy was better than controlled group, there was significant difference between them (P < 0.01). After treatment, there was no significant difference between the treated group and healthy group (P > 0.05). (3) Thirty patients with allergic rhinitis received 3530 times immunotherapy, their local and systemic side-effect were observed, recorded and analyzed during the treatment, the number of patients who got systemic side-effect was 4 cases, the percent of side-effect was 0.17% (6/3530); the number of patients who got local side-effect was 12 cases, the percent of local side-effect was 1.53% (54/3530). Both side-effects were slight. CONCLUSION Specific immunotherapy is a sort of effective method for treating perennial allergic rhinitis, so it is worth spreading.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Interleukin-2 ; blood ; Interleukin-4 ; blood ; Interleukin-5 ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; therapy ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEThis study investigated the serum levels of interleukin-5 (IL-5), leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in children with Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) at different phases to explore the role of IL-5, LTB4 and CRP in the pathogenesis of HSP.

METHODSSerum levels of IL-5, LTB4 and CRP in 27 normal children and 31 children with HSP at the acute phase and the early recovery phase were detected using ELISA.

RESULTSThe serum levels of IL-5, LTB4 and CRP in children with HSP were 53.8 +/- 4.2 pg/mL, 95.3 +/- 12.0 pg/mL and 36.10 +/- 11.78 mg/L, respectively at the acute phase. The values were significantly decreased at the early recovery phase (37.8 +/- 3.9 pg/mL, 45.7 +/- 10.1 pg/mL, 18.35 +/- 6.43 mg/L; P < 0.01), but remained higher than those in normal controls (12.7 +/- 3.2 pg/mL, 17.6 +/- 5.7 pg/mL, 4.75 +/- 2.85 mg/L; P < 0.01). The serum levels of IL-5 and LTB4 positively correlated to the CRP level.

CONCLUSIONSThe serum levels of IL-5 and LTB4 in children with HSP increased during the acute phase and decreased at the early recovery phase, suggesting that IL-5 and LTB4 may be involved in the pathogenesis of HSP.

Adolescent ; C-Reactive Protein ; analysis ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-5 ; blood ; Leukotriene B4 ; blood ; Male ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch ; blood ; etiology

Adolescent ; Adult ; Antigens, CD34 ; blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Eosinophils ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-5 ; blood ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial ; blood ; Young Adult