Plasma levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in Ghanaian children with vaccine-modified measles.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2003
Authors
Tetteh, J.K.A.
Addae, M.M.
Commey, J.O.O.
Ishiwada, N.
Yempewu, S.M.
Yamaguchi, S.
Ofori-Adjei, D.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
To understand the pathogenesis of vaccine-modified measles (VMM), we measured plasma levels of IFN-gamma and IL-2 (Th1 cytokines), IL-4 and IL-10 (Th2 cytokines), IL-12, TNF-alpha and TGF-beta1 in children with uncomplicated measles, who had anti-measles IgG antibodies and with a history of immunization on admission (day 0), day 14 and day 60. We compared these to levels in healthy, age-matched, immunized children. Plasma levels of IFN-gamma, IL-2 and IL-12 were significantly higher in VMM patients on day 0 compared to healthy controls (p = 0.023; p = 0.018; p = 0.001) respectively. In contrast, plasma IL-4 was lower in VMM patients on day 0 when compared to the controls (p = 0.009). Plasma levels of IL-12 remained consistently high on days 14 and 60 (p = 0.001; p = 0.04), whilst IL-10 levels fell significantly on the same days (p = 0.002; p = 0.001) respectively. Kinetically, IFN-gamma and IL-10 levels decreased consistently from day 0 to days 14 and 60 in VMM patients. In contrast, IL-4 levels increased from day 0 to day 14 and day 60. Our results therefore suggest that VMM is associated with an early up-regulation of Th1 cytokine production and a down-regulation of Th2 cytokine production. The strong Th1 response may be associated with the induction of IL-12 and memory cells, thus contributing to the early resolution of the infection and lack of complications.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Tetteh, J. K. A., Addae, M. M., Ishiwada, N., Yempewu, S. M., Yamaguchi, S., Ofori-Adjei, D., . . . Akanmori, B. D. (2003). Plasma levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in Ghanaian children with vaccine-modified measles. European Cytokine Network, 14(2), 109-113.