Predominant type-2 response in infants with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection demonstrated by cytokine flow cytometry.
Acute RSV infection in infancy may produce some asthma-like symptoms and may be followed by a recurrent wheeze later in childhood. It has been proposed that RSV infection stimulates type-2 cytokine responses, resembling those found in atopy and asthma. Peripheral blood cells were obtained from RSV-infected infants (n = 30) and healthy controls (n = 10). After in vitro restimulation of the cells, intracellular IL-4 and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were measured by flow cytometry. The cells from RSV-infected infants produced more IL-4 and less IFN-gamma than those from healthy controls. IL-4 production was more frequent in CD8 than in CD4 cells, and the bias toward IL-4 production was greatest in infants with mild infections, whereas IFN-gamma production increased with disease severity. Our conclusions are that RSV infection is associated with IL-4 production in peripheral T cells, and that peripheral blood in infants with severe disease may be depleted of cytokine-producing cells.
Department of Cellular Immunology, Institute of Immunology, University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, University Children's Hospital, Division of Virology, Croatian National Institute of Public Health, Zagrab, Croatia.
K
K
Bendelja
A
A
Gagro
A
A
Bace
R
R
Lokar-Kolbas
V
V
Krsulovic-Hresic
V
V
Drazenovic
G
G
Mlinaric-Galinovic
S
S
Rabatic
D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D012136:Respiratory Syncytial Viruses / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma