title: Evaluation of the effect of interleukin-10 on the multiplication of Mycobacterium avium complex in human macrophages and in C57BL/6 mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of recombinant human IL-10 (rhIL-10) on MAC infection of human macrophages and C57BL/6 mice. METHODS: We compared rhIL-10 with the effects of the immunosuppressive drugs prednisolone and cyclosporin A, both in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS: There was no effect of rhIL-10 on the multiplication of MAC in human macrophages after 1 week of infection. In C57BL/6 mice, rhIL-10 at 2.5 or 25 m g/mouse had no additional multiplicatory effect after 3 weeks of infection, while the spleens of mice treated with prednisolone had 600% higher bacteria than controls or rhIL-10-treated mice (p0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that rhIL-10 does not further decrease the resistance of human macrophages and C57BL/6 mice to MAC infection, whereas prednisolone leads to increased multiplication of MAC in the spleens of infected C57BL/6 mice. These results may be of interest in the context of the therapeutic use of rhIL-10 in some autoimmune disorders.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (EP INSERM 9933), Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris.
authors.forename: Hilte F.
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Geerdes-Fenge
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Perronne
authors.forename: Guylène
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carbon