title: Increased interleukin-1 production and monocyte suppressor cell activity associated with human tuberculosis.
abstract: Interleukin-1 (IL-1) production by blood monocytes and blastogenesis produced by tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) in blood T lymphocytes were examined in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Monocytes were isolated from blood mononuclear cells by plastic adherence, and IL-1 activity was determined in the mouse thymocyte proliferation assay. Monocytes from patients with tuberculosis produced significantly higher activities of IL-1 than did those from healthy tuberculin reactors when stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (patients, 56.1 +/- 20.0 U/ml; healthy control subjects, 7.3 +/- 1.7 U/ml; p less than 0.05) or PPD (patients, 28.1 +/- 7.2 U/ml; healthy control subjects, 9.5 +/- 2.9 U/ml; p less than 0.05). In contrast, PPD-induced blastogenic responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from the patients were lower than those from healthy subjects (patients, 4,506 +/- 1,145 cpm; healthy control subjects, 14,655 +/- 2,240 cpm; p less than 0.005), and IL-1 production by monocytes showed a positive correlation with monocyte suppressor activity for PPD-induced blastogenesis. Moreover, exogenous IL-1 was capable of suppressing antigen-induced blastogenesis of PBMC from healthy subjects. These data suggest that monocytes from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis are activated to produce or secrete increased levels of IL-1 and that IL-1 may be a mediator of suppressor cell function.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D014373:Tuberculin / Q000276:immunology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D014373:Tuberculin