title: Elevated levels of interleukin-12 and interferon-gamma in patients with human T lymphotropic virus type I-associated myelopathy.
abstract: The levels of interleukin-12 (IL-12) (p70 heterodimer), total IL-12 (p70 heterodimer plus p40 chains), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) as Th1 cytokine, and those of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) as Th2 cytokines in sera and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 22 patients with human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I)-associated myelopathy (HAM) were compared with those of 22 patients with other neurological diseases (OND), including nine anti-HTLV-I-seropositive carriers. Both serum IL-12 (total and p70 heterodimer) and CSF IFN-gamma, measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), were significantly elevated in patients with HAM as compared to the patients with OND, including the anti-HTLV-I-seropositive carriers. Serum IFN-gamma also was significantly elevated in the HAM patients as compared to the controls. There was no significant difference in the CSF levels of IL-12 (total and p70 heterodimer) between the HAM patients and controls, whereas, for the Th2 cytokines IL-4 was detected in the CSF of four anti-HTLV-I-seropositive carriers of the 13 control patients but not in any of the patients with HAM. No significant difference was found in the serum levels of IL-4 and IL-10, nor in the CSF levels of IL-10 in the patients with HAM and in the controls. These findings indicate that in patients with HAM, the immunological balance of helper T lymphocytes between Th1 and Th2 is toward Th1 in the periphery and that Th1-mediated immunological status in the central nervous system is involved in the pathogenesis of HAM.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furuya
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakane
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kambara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shirabe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamasaki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Motomura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eguchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015493:Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D016753:Interleukin-10; D018664:Interleukin-12; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma