Open Access

ARTICLE

Plasma levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in Ghanaian children with vaccine-modified measles

John K. A. Tetteh¹, Mark M. Addae¹, Naruhiko Ishiwada², Sena M. Yempewu¹, Shinya Yamaguchi¹, David Ofori-Adjei¹, Hitoshi Kamiya⁴, Yoshihiro Komada³, Bartholomew D. Akanmori^1,*

1 Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), Legon, Ghana
2 Department of Pediatrics, Chiba University of Medicine, Chiba, Japan
3 Department of Pediatrics, Mie University School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie, Japan
4 Mie National Hospital, Mie, Japan

* Corresponding Author: Bartholomew D. Akanmori,

European Cytokine Network 2003, 14(2), 109-113.

Abstract

To understand the pathogenesis of vaccine-modified measles (VMM), we measured plasma levels of IFN-γ and IL-2 (Th1 cytokines), IL-4 and IL-10 (Th2 cytokines), IL-12, TNF-α and TGF-β1 in children with uncomplicated measles, who had anti-measles IgG antibodies and with a history of immunization on admission (day 0), day 14 and day 60. We compared these to levels in healthy, age-matched, immunized children. Plasma levels of IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-12 were significantly higher in VMM patients on day 0 compared to healthy controls (p = 0.023; p = 0.018; p = 0.001) respectively. In contrast, plasma IL-4 was lower in VMM patients on day 0 when compared to the controls (p = 0.009). Plasma levels of IL-12 remained consistently high on days 14 and 60 (p = 0.001; p = 0.04), whilst IL-10 levels fell significantly on the same days (p = 0.002; p = 0.001) respectively. Kinetically, IFN-γ and IL-10 levels decreased consistently from day 0 to days 14 and 60 in VMM patients. In contrast, IL-4 levels increased from day 0 to day 14 and day 60. Our results therefore suggest that VMM is associated with an early up-regulation of Th1 cytokine production and a down-regulation of Th2 cytokine production. The strong Th1 response may be associated with the induction of IL-12 and memory cells, thus contributing to the early resolution of the infection and lack of complications.

---

Keywords

---