Evaluation of in Vitro Production of IFN-y, IL-tO, IL-t2 and IL-t3 by Blood Cells in Patients with Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Lesions

This study investigated the in vitro production of interferon-v, interleukin (ll)-1 0,ll-12. and il-13, after antigenic stimulation of the cells (with leishmania antigen andlipopolysaccharide) using whole blood from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasislesions caused by leishmania tropica and in normal volunteers with history ofcutaneous leishmaniasis.elisa results showed that the mean production of interferon-y by cells of wholeblood in patients with lesions in response to leishmania antigen was significantlylower than corresponding values in volunteers with history of cutaneous leishmaniasis(p< 0.05) and significantly higher levels of il-l 0 production in patients with lesionswere observed compared with cured volunteers of the disease (p(less than)o.oi). a similar levelof il-12, including p40 subunit of il-12, was detected in both groups tested in thisstudy in response to stimulation of parasite antigen. the levels of the il-13 afterstimulation with leishmania antigen were significantly more in patients compared withvolunteers with history of cutaneous leishmaniasis (p(less than) 0.0 i). there was no significantdifference in the mean production of ifn-y, il-io, il-12 and il-13 by pha or lpsstimulated cells from patients with lesions and volunteers with history of the disease,indicating that there was no qualitative defect in cytokine production in these patients.in this study, we have detected the decreased production of interferon- y by cells ofpatients with lesions of cutaneous leishmaniasis in response to parasite antigen andt•rnbalanced production of regulatory cytokines such as il-io and il-13 using thewhole-blood stimulation assay technique. the required small volume of blood and therapid set up time are the advantages in this assay technique. using this assay for furtherimmunodetection of cytokines may confirm its value for clinical investigation.