title: Elevated interleukin (IL)-18 levels during acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
abstract: Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is mediated by grafted T lymphocytes after their polarization into type 1 T cells. Interleukin (IL)-18, a novel immunoregulatory cytokine, strongly stimulates type 1 T cells, therefore we postulated that IL-18 may be involved in the pathogenesis of aGVHD. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we serially measured serum levels of IL-18 in 37 patients with haematological malignancy before and after allogeneic BMT. Patients with aGVHD had high levels of IL-18 that strongly correlated with the severity of aGVHD. We also found that they showed reduced serum levels of IL-18 after appropriate treatment or at a state of resolution. IL-18 levels were not affected by the pretransplant regimen, engraftment or bacterial infection. Compared with circulating interferon (IFN)-gamma or IL-12 levels, serum levels of IL-18 showed a more sensitive and specific correlation with the disease status of aGVHD. These findings suggest that IL-18 may play important roles in the pathogenesis of aGVHD and that measurement of serum IL-18 levels can be useful indicator of aGVHD.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan. fuji-y@hyo-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujimori
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takatsuka
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takemoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kakishita
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D007938:Leukemia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D015464:Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020382:Interleukin-18; D018664:Interleukin-12; D007371:Interferon-gamma