title: Diminished interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production by bacterial antigen-specific T cells in atopic patients.
abstract: In this study, we established and studied cytokine production of T cell lines (TCL) specific to either a purified protein derivative of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (PPD) or Dermatophagoides farinae (Df) from atopic patients and non-atopic healthy subjects. IFN-gamma was detected in the culture supernatants of all of 36 PPD-specific TCL established from healthy controls, whereas only 24 of 38 PPD-specific TCL from patients produced IFN-gamma. Furthermore, the amounts of IFN-gamma produced by PPD-specific TCL from patients were significantly lower than those from healthy controls. No IL-4 was detected in any PPD-specific TCL from either healthy controls or atopic patients. The amounts of IL-4 production from Df-specific TCL from atopic patients were much higher than from healthy controls, while few TCL produced IFN-gamma. These results suggest that the skewing to the Th2-type T cell response in atopic patients is a response not only to allergens, but also to bacterial antigens, compared with non-atopic subjects. Activation of PPD-specific TCL from patients with calcium ionophore A23187 plus phorbol myristate acetate resulted in much higher IFN-gamma production than in TCL established from healthy controls, indicating that the low production of IFN-gamma by PPD-specific T cells from atopic patients is not due to an intrinsic T cell defect but to some regulatory mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Chiba University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimojo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kohno
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katsuki
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoshioka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Honma
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Niimi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D039741:Antigens, Dermatophagoides; D001249:Asthma / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000378:metabolism; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000378:metabolism*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D008925:Mites / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014373:Tuberculin / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D039741:Antigens, Dermatophagoides; D016207:Cytokines; D000939:Epitopes; D006023:Glycoproteins; D014373:Tuberculin; D007371:Interferon-gamma