Detections of interleukin-2,-4,-10 and interferon-? secreting cells in myasthenic thymus and peripheral blood / 中华神经科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the immune function of the subpopulation of T helper lymphocyte(Th), including Th1 and Th2 cells in myasthenic thymus and peripheral blood (PB).Methods Enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) method is adopted to detect the acetylcholine receptor (AChR)-reactive interleukin-2(IL-2)-, interleukin-4 (IL-4)-, interleukin-10 (IL-10)-, interferon-gamma(IFN-?)-secreting cell numbers in thymus and peripheral blood (PB). Results The AChR-reactive IL-2-,IL-4-,IL-10-, IFN-?-secreting cell numbers were increased in thymus as well as the AChR-reactive IL-10-, IFN-?-secreting cell numbers in PB. There is a positive correlation between thymus and PB in MG for the AChR-reactive IL-4-, IL-10-secreting cell numbers. After treatment, the AChR-reactive IL-2-,IL-4-, IFN-?-secreting cell numbers were decreased in PB, while there were 1 case and 2 cases showing a decrease and an increase in AChR-reactive IL-10-secreting cell number, respectively.Conclusions The immune dysfunction of the Th1 and Th2 subpopulation existed in the thymus and PB of MG, and the AChR-reactive IL-4-, IL-10-secreting cell numbers might be served as parameters to evaluate the degree of the immune dysfunction in the MG thymus. The role of the IL-10 in pathogenesis of MG needs further study.