title: Th(2) immune response in patients with dengue during defervescence: preliminary evidence.
abstract: A shift from a T(H)1 to a T(H)2 immune response has been observed in vitro during dengue virus infection. Estimation of plasma IgE level (n = 28), CD4:CD8 lymphocyte ratio, and the intracellular interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma):interleukin-4 (IL-4) ratio (n = 9) was conducted in patients with various severities of dengue around the time of defervescence. The CD4:CD8 lymphocyte ratio was significantly lower (median = 0.45, interquartile range [IQR] = 0.4-0.47 versus 1.3, 1.0-1.9; P = 0.001), and IgE levels were significantly higher (mean = 300.4, SD = 252.5 versus 143.7, 117.9 IU/mL; P = 0.004) in patients than in healthy controls. The intracellular IFN-gamma:IL-4 ratio was significantly lower in patients compared with controls (0.28, 0.13 versus 0.99, 0.4; P = 0.001). These findings suggest that a T(H)2 immune response occurs in patients with dengue around the time of defervescence.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Immunology and Immunogenetics Laboratory, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Ulaganathan
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mabalirajan
authors.forename: Tamilarasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kadhiravan
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banga
authors.forename: Balaram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ghosh
mesh_terms: D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003715:Dengue / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015847:Interleukin-4; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D007371:Interferon-gamma