Natural Measles Causes Prolonged Suppression of Interleukin-12 Production

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 2001-07, Vol.184 (1), p.1-9
• Main Authors: Atabani, Sowsan F., Byrnes, Adriana A., Jaye, Assan, Kidd, I. Michael, Magnusen, Albert F., Whittle, Hilton, Karp, Christopher L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Analysis of the immune response. Humoral and cellular immunity; Antibodies; Antigens, CD - metabolism; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Cytokines; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Flow Cytometry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Gambia; Humans; Immunobiology; Infant; Infections; Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis; Interleukin-12 - biosynthesis; Interleukins; Lymphokines, interleukins ( function, expression); Macrophages - immunology; Major Articles; Male; Measles; Measles - immunology; Measles Vaccine; Measles virus; Membrane Cofactor Protein; Membrane Glycoproteins - metabolism; Microbiology; Monocytes; Monocytes - immunology; Pathogenicity, virulence, toxins, bacteriocins, pyrogens, host-bacteria relations, miscellaneous strains; Regulatory factors and their cellular receptors; Secretion; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic - immunology; Viruses
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/321009

Among vaccine-preventable diseases, measles is the preeminent killer of children worldwide. Infection with measles virus (MV) is associated with prolonged suppression of cell-mediated immune responses, a phenomenon that is thought to underlie the susceptibility to secondary infections that accounts for most measles-related mortality. Interleukin (IL)–12 is critical for the orchestration of cellular immunity. MV specifically ablates IL-12 production by monocyte/macrophages in vitro through binding to CD46, a complement regulatory protein that is an MV receptor. To address the effect of MV on IL-12 responses in vivo, cytokine production was examined in Gambian patients with measles. IL-12 production by peripheral blood monocytes from such patients is markedly suppressed, which provides a unifying mechanism for many of the immunologic abnormalities associated with measles. This suppression is prolonged, with significant, stimulus-specific inhibition of IL-12 production demonstrable months after recovery from acute infection. However, despite this suppression, IL-12 responsiveness remains intact