Role of interleukin-12 in patients with dengue hemorrhagic fever

• Published in: FEMS immunology and medical microbiology 2000-06, Vol.28 (2), p.151-155
• Main Authors: Pacsa, A.S., Agarwal, R., Elbishbishi, E.A., Chaturvedi, U.C., Nagar, R., Mustafa, A.S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arboviroses; Biological and medical sciences; Cytokine; Cytokines; Dengue; Dengue fever; Dengue fevers; Dengue hemorrhagic fever; Disease control; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human viral diseases; Humans; Illnesses; IL‐12; Infectious diseases; Interleukin 12; Interleukin-12 - blood; Interleukin-12 - genetics; Leukocytes (mononuclear); Leukocytes, Mononuclear - immunology; Lymphocytes T; Medical sciences; Microbiology; mRNA; Pathogenesis; Peripheral blood mononuclear cells; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; Replicative cycle, interference, host-virus relations, pathogenicity, miscellaneous strains; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger - analysis; Severe Dengue - blood; Severe Dengue - immunology; Tropical viral diseases; Vector-borne diseases; Viral diseases; Virology
• ISSN: 0928-8244; 1574-695X; 2049-632X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-695X.2000.tb01470.x

Abstract Interleukin (IL)-12 has a broad range of activities including regulation of cytokine synthesis and selective promotion of Th1-type cell development. A shift from a Th1-type response to Th2-type has been suggested to be important in the pathogenesis of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). This study was undertaken to investigate the possible role of IL-12 in this shift. A total of 76 patients with various grades of dengue illness and 21 normal healthy controls were tested for IL-12 levels in serum samples and IL-12 mRNA in their peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The results showed that the levels of IL-12 were the highest in patients with dengue fever (270±102 pg ml−1) followed by decreasing levels in the patients with DHF grade I (198±86 pg ml−1; P