title: Serum IL-4, IL-10 and IL-6 levels in inflammatory arthritis.
abstract: As the available in vitro and in vivo data suggest that interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 have immunosuppressive activity, our hypothesis was that serum IL-4 and IL-10 levels would correlate inversely with parameters of inflammation in patients with inflammatory arthritis. IL-4 was detected in the serum of 12 out of 140 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which was increased compared to the proportion found with patients with osteoarthritis (OA; P < 0.02). In addition, IL-4 was detected in the serum of 2 of 19 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 2 of 24 patients with psoriatic arthritis and 1 of 5 patients with Behçet's syndrome. No IL-4 was detected in patients with the following conditions: OA (58 patients), gout (17 patients), ankylosing spondylitis (6 patients), Reiter's syndrome (6 patients), polymyalgia rheumatica (6 patients), temporal arteritis (5 patients) and scleroderma (3 patients). No IL-10 was detected in any of the sera tested. We discuss the possible relevance of these results to the regulation of the immune response evident in inflammatory arthritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Australia.
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Cicuttini
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Byron
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Wootton
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Muirden
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hamilton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001168:Arthritis / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D016753:Interleukin-10; D015847:Interleukin-4