title: Increased interleukin 6 production by T cells derived from patients with atopic dermatitis.
abstract: Many immunologic aspects of atopic dermatitis have been studied, but basic pathobiologic mechanisms of this disease remain unknown. In this study, we measured the production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) by peripheral blood T cells and monocytes from patients with atopic dermatitis in comparison to normal control subjects and patients with chronic psoriasis. We found that peripheral blood T cells isolated from patients with atopic dermatitis produced significantly higher levels of IL-6 (36.1 +/- 5.1 units/ml, n = 22) than T cells derived from either normal subjects (12.6 +/- 1.9 units/ml, n = 22) or patients with chronic psoriasis (26.7 +/- 4.1 units/ml, n = 7). T-cell activation was also measured in the patients with atopic dermatitis by soluble serum IL-2 receptor levels and were found to be significantly higher (623.7 +/- 8.1 units/ml, n = 8) than normal subjects (357.2 +/- 26.0 units/ml, n = 8). In contrast to the increased production of IL-6 by T cells in atopic dermatitis, there was no significant difference in the IL-6 production by peripheral blood monocytes derived from patients with atopic dermatitis compared to normal subjects. Thus, peripheral blood T cells derived from patients with AD spontaneously produce increased amounts of IL-6 compared to T cells from normal subjects, which may reflect the increased activation state of T cells in atopic dermatitis. These data support the concept that activated T cells or subsets of T cells may be important effector cells in mediating inflammatory activity in atopic disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Oregon Health Sciences University 97201-3098.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toshitani
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Ansel
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hanifin
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D007700:Kinetics; D009000:Monocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2