title: Bioactive tumor necrosis factor in the sputa of cystic fibrosis patients.
abstract: Eighty sputum samples from 37 cystic fibrosis patients were assayed for tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in the L929 bioactivity assay. In addition, the presence of TNF-alpha-specific mRNA in the sputum was determined by using TNF-alpha-specific DNA probes in a PCR amplification step after reverse transcription of the mRNA to cDNA. Bioactive TNF-alpha was detected in 69 (86%) of the 80 sputum samples tested and, on at least one occasion, in 35 (95%) of the 37 cystic fibrosis patients sampled. The highest levels of TNF-alpha were observed in sputa obtained from patients presenting with an exacerbation of their disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Clee
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nakielna
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007739:L Cells; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D013183:Sputum / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha