title: Serum cytokine responses during acute human granulocytic ehrlichiosis.
abstract: Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) is caused by obligate intracellular bacteria in the Ehrlichia phagocytophila group. The disease ranges from subclinical to fatal. We speculated that cell-mediated immunity would be important for recovery from and potentially in the clinical manifestations of HGE; thus, serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta), gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), IL-10, and IL-4 concentrations were studied. IFN-gamma (1,035 +/- 235 pg/ml [mean +/- standard error of the mean]) and IL-10 (118 +/- 46 pg/ml) concentrations were elevated in acute-phase sera versus convalescent sera and normal subjects (P </= 0.013 and P </= 0.018, respectively). TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-4 levels were not elevated. Cytokine levels in severely and mildly affected patients were not different. HGE leads to induction of IFN-gamma-dominated cell-mediated immunity associated with clinical manifestations, recovery from infection, or both.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Dumler
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Trigiani
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bakken
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Aguero-Rosenfeld
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Wormser
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D003289:Convalescence; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D004536:Ehrlichia / Q000276:immunology; D016873:Ehrlichiosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000097:blood; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007375:Interleukin-1; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma