title: Responsiveness to interleukin 4 and interleukin 2 of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in atopic dermatitis.
abstract: Although the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD) is unknown, many immunologic abnormalities such as high levels of serum IgE and increase of IgE Fc receptor-positive lymphocytes have been demonstrated. Recently, interleukin 4 (IL-4) has been shown to induce enormously the production of IgE and to enhance the expression of IgE Fc receptor by B cells, suggesting the possible involvement of IL-4 in the pathogenesis of AD. We examined IL-4 responsiveness or interleukin 2 (IL-2) responsiveness of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 31 patients with AD, 19 healthy individuals, and seven patients with other skin diseases. We found that IL-4 responsiveness of AD was higher than that of non-AD control, although IL-2 responsiveness of AD showed no significant change. However, the value of the IL-4 responsiveness did not significantly correlate with the clinical severity, personal history of respiratory allergy, serum IgE level, or clinical course of patients with AD. The hyperresponsiveness to IL-4 detected in AD was not likely to be due to the effects of steroids or anti-mast cell drugs because the value of IL-4 responsiveness was significantly low, compared to AD, in patients with other skin diseases who were treated similarly. Because the T-cell-enriched population, but not the B-cell-enriched population, showed significant proliferation in response to exogenous IL-4 or IL-2, T cells were the main population that reacted in our proliferation assay. These results indicate that IL-4-driven proliferative response may be efficiently operative in T cells in patients with AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furue
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohtsuki
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ogata
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishibashi
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D015847:Interleukin-4