High Levels of Cytokine-Producing Cells in the Lung Tissues of Patients with Fatal Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 1999-02, Vol.179 (2), p.295-302
• Main Authors: Mori, Masuko, Rothman, Alan L., Kurane, Ichiro, Montoya, James M., Nolte, Kurt B., Norman, Joyce E., Waite, Douglas C., Koster, Frederick T., Ennis, Francis A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult respiratory distress syndrome; Aged; Analysis of the immune response. Humoral and cellular immunity; Biological and medical sciences; Cytokines; Cytokines - metabolism; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Hantavirus; Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome; Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - metabolism; Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - mortality; Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome - pathology; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immunobiology; Infant, Newborn; Infectious diseases; Interferons - metabolism; Interleukins - metabolism; Kidney - metabolism; Kidneys; Liver; Liver - metabolism; Lung - metabolism; Lung - pathology; Lung diseases; Lungs; Major Articles; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Organs and cells involved in the immune response; Spleen; Spleen - metabolism; T lymphocytes; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the respiratory system and ent viral diseases
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/314597

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is characterized by the rapid onset of pulmonary edema and a high case-fatality rate. Hantavirus antigens have been demonstrated in pulmonary capillary endothelial cells, but the mechanisms causing capillary leakage remain unclear. Immunohistochemical staining was used to enumerate cytokine-producing cells (monokines: interleukin [IL]-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α; lymphokines: interferon-γ, IL-2, IL-4, and TNF-β) in tissues obtained at autopsy from subjects with HPS. High numbers of cytokine-producing cells were seen in the lung and spleen tissues of HPS patients, but only low numbers in the livers and kidneys. A modest increase in the numbers of cytokine-producing cells was detected in the lungs of patients who died with non-HPS acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and very few (or no) cytokine-producing cells were detected in the lungs of patients who died of causes other than ARDS. These results suggest that local cytokine production may play an important role in the pathogenesis of HPS.