The spontaneous as well as mitogen-induced in vitro production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) was studied in cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 14 children with marginal protein-energy malnutrition, 43 children with definite protein-energy malnutrition and 38 eutrophic controls of similar age, sex, race and socioeconomical condition. PBMC were cultured without added mitogen or stimulated with either lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or phytohemagglutinin (PHA). After 48 h incubation, cell-free culture supernatants were collected and stored at –70°C. The amount of IL-6 in the supernatants was determined by a specific bioassay based on the proliferation of B9 hybridoma cells using human rIL-6 as standard. The mean level of IL-6 was significantly increased in supernatants from nonstimulated PBMC cultures from definitely malnourished children as compared with that observed in those of the controls. Stimulation with either LPS or PHA induced a rise in cytokine bioactivity in the supernatants of PBMC cultures from the different nutritional groups tested. Interestingly, IL-6 was significantly increased in the supernatants of PHA-stimulated cultures from malnourished children as compared with those of the controls.
The immune system is subject to destruction and dysfunction as a result of attacks by pathogenic and environmental agents. In addition, many clinical situations exist in which it is desirable to stimulate or suppress the immune system. The present study evaluated the screening efficacy of flow cytometric lymphocyte subset typing in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy individuals (HI) and from patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) treated with different concentrations of FR-91, a standardized lysate of microbial cells belonging to the Bacillus genus, and in vitro cytokine production. Increased expression of subset markers (CD3, CD4, CD8) in NHL and CD3 in HI suggests an immunomodulating effect of FR-91. In addition the results of cytokine production also demonstrated a clear effect of FR-91 on both populations. A significant increase of IL-6, IL-12, IFN-γ
and TNF-α was observed in the HI group after treatment with FR-91. In a similar manner an increase of IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, IFN-γ
and TNF-α was also observed in the NHL group. In conclusion FR-91 seems to affect lymphocyte subpopulations, in vitro cytokine production, as well as mitogen-induced lymphocyte activation in a dose-dependent manner in both healthy individuals and NHL patients.
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