Production of Interferon γ, Interleukin 2, Interleukin 4, and Interleukin 10 by CD4^+ Lymphocytes In vivo During Healing and Progressive Murine Leishmaniasis
Abstract
The expression of interleukin (IL) 2, IL-4, IL-10, and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) by lymphocyte subsets was examined during infection of resistant C57BL/6 and susceptible BALB/c mice with the protozoan parasite Leishmania major. CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes were isolated from the lymph nodes draining infectious lesions, and their RNA was examined for lymphokine transcripts. Distinct patterns of CD4+ cell cytokine expression were apparent: C57BL/6 CD4+ cells contained IFN-gamma and IL-2 mRNA, whereas BALB/c CD4+ cells expressed IL-4 and IL-10 message. CD8+ cells contributed little lymphokine expression during disease, but B cells were a major source of IL-2 mRNA in both strains of mice. BALB/c mice made resistant by treatment with anti-CD4 antibody at the time of infection repopulated lymph nodes with CD4+ cells that expressed IL-2 and IFN-gamma. Protective treatment with anti-IL-4 antibody in vivo also resulted in the appearance of CD4+ cells with increased IFN-gamma and diminished IL-4 and IL-10 expression. These data establish CD4+ cells as the primary source of IFN-gamma in healing mice and of IL-4 and IL-10 during progressive infection and confirm that the spectral extremes of this disease are characterized by the presence of CD4+ cells expressing Th1 or Th2 phenotypes in vivo.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- August 1991
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.88.16.7011
- Bibcode:
- 1991PNAS...88.7011H