pro and anti-inflammatory cytokine production in cd4+ t lymphocytes in children with asthma and allergic rhinitis exposed to the monocyte locomotion inhibitory factor (mlif)

Entamoeba histolytica produces, in axenic culture, the monocytes locomotion inhibitory factor (mlif), a oligopeptide with selective anti-inflammatory properties. we evaluated the effect of mlif on the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in cd4+ t lymphocytes from children with asthma and allergic rhinitis. twelve children with severe asthma, 12 children with allergic rhinitis and 6 healthy controls were recruited for this study between may and december 2016. cd4+ t cells were cultured for 24 h at 37°c, 5% co2 in the presence of mlif, 1-phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (pma), mlif+pma or rpmi. interleukin-10 (il-10), il-4, interferon gamma (ifn-γ) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf-α) expression levels were measured in the supernatants of t-cell cultures using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa). pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were inhibited by mlif (ifn-γ p=0.0036, tnf-α p<0.001, il-4 p=0.0082) in asthmatic patients, however ifn-γ was not significantly inhibited (ns) in patients with allergic rhinitis when compared to the rpmi group. in cd4+ t cells treated with pma+mlif, the expression levels of ifn-γ, tnf-α and il-4 were strongly inhibited (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p<0.0094), compared to pma treatment alone, for both, rhinitis and asthma. il-10 expression was not affected by mlif in neither of the two diseases. we conclude that mlif alters the pro/anti-inflammatory balance and induces inhibition of il-4, ifn-γ and tnf-α, but does not affect il-10.