title: Cytokine mRNA repertoire of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in Takayasu's arteritis.
abstract: We have investigated constitutive and phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) + phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced gene expression of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-10, IL-12 and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 10 patients with Takayasu's arteritis (TA) and 10 healthy controls by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The constitutive mRNA expression of TNF-alpha (69.0 +/- 4.0%versus 27.5 +/- 18.0%; P = 0.001) and IL-4 (60.0 +/- 10.0%versus 0%; P = 0.001) was significantly higher in patients than controls; that of IL-3 was comparable in both groups (38.0 +/- 6.0%versus 32.0 +/- 5.0%; P = 0.651) while no constitutive mRNA expression was observed for the other cytokines studied. The stimulated PBMCs of patients, as compared with the controls, had higher mRNA gene expression of TNF-alpha (127.0 +/- 16.0%versus 54.0 +/- 6.0%; P = 0.001), IFN-gamma (93.0 +/- 13.0%versus 57.0 +/- 5.0%; P = 0.032), IL-2 (109.0 +/- 13.0%versus 68.0 +/- 6.0%; P = 0.015), IL-3 (60.0 +/- 8.0%versus 21.2 +/- 3.0%; P = 0.045) and IL-4 (68.0 +/- 7.0%versus 27.0 +/- 7.2%; P = 0.01) The mRNA expression of IL-10 was lower in patients than controls (35.0 +/- 8.0%versus 75.0 +/- 12.0%; P = 0.022). The GM-CSF mRNA was similar (102.0 +/- 6.0%versus 89.0 +/- 5.0%; P = 0.475) in both groups. Stimulation of cells with PHA + PMA showed no IL-12 expression but stimulation with lipopolysaccharide induced higher IL-12 mRNA in patients than controls (83.0 +/- 14.0%versus 33.0 +/- 4.0%; P = 0.005). Our data suggest that an inflammatory cytokine signature exists in TA with a key role for TNF-alpha, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-12 in different pathological processes of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: N Kumar
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Tripathy
authors.forename: S Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chauhan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nityanand
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016207:Cytokines / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000032:analysis; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000032:analysis; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000032:analysis; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis; D007377:Interleukin-3 / Q000032:analysis; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000032:analysis; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D013625:Takayasu Arteritis / Q000276:immunology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007376:Interleukin-2; D007377:Interleukin-3; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10; D018664:Interleukin-12; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor