Lack of correlation between disease activity and decreased stimulated secretion of IL-10 in lymphocytes from patients with celiac disease.
BACKGROUND
Celiac disease (CD) is commonly believed to be a predominantly Th1 disease. However, the exact balance between the Th1 and Th2 arms, as well as the correlation to clinical parameters, remains unclear. The aim was to assess the Th1/Th2 cytokine profile and its correlation to clinical parameters in active and non-active CD patients.


METHODS
Peak, total secretion and secretory pattern of the Th1 cytokines (IFN-gamma and IL-2) and Th2 cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10) were determined in resting and stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 19 CD patients with active and non-active disease and 20 normal controls.


RESULTS
Peak and total secretion of IL-10 were significantly reduced in CD patients compared with normal controls. This was due to a persistently flat secretory pattern of IL-10 over time in CD patients. In addition, IFN-gamma/IL-10 and the IL-2/IL-10 ratios of peak and total secretion were higher in patients than in controls. In contrast, peak, total secretion and secretory pattern of IL-2, IFN-gamma and IL-4 were comparable in patients and controls as well as the IL-2/IL-4 and IFN-gamma/IL-4 ratios. No difference in the cytokine secretion or Th1/Th2 ratio was found between active and non-active patients or between pediatric and adult patients.


CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate that the Thl/Th2 balance in CD is shifted towards Th1 cytokines because of a down-regulated IL-10 secretion. The aberrant profile of cytokine secretion of these patients is not associated with clinical parameters and suggests an inherent defect in IL-10 secretion in CD.
Mizrachi
A
A
Dept. of Internal Medicine 'B', Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
Broide
E
E
Buchs
A
A
Kornberg
A
A
Aharoni
D
D
Bistritzer
T
T
Rapoport
M J
MJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D002455:Cell Division; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016207:Cytokines / Q000032:analysis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008875:Middle Aged; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*
D016207:Cytokines; D016753:Interleukin-10