TY  - EJOU
AU  - Tetteh, John K. A. 
AU  - Addae, Mark M. 
AU  - Ishiwada, Naruhiko 
AU  - Yempewu, Sena M. 
AU  - Yamaguchi, Shinya 
AU  - Ofori-Adjei, David 
AU  - Kamiya, Hitoshi 
AU  - Komada, Yoshihiro 
AU  - Akanmori, Bartholomew D. 

TI  - Plasma levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in Ghanaian children with vaccine-modified measles
T2  - European Cytokine Network

PY  - 2003
VL  - 14
IS  - 2
SN  - 1952-4005

AB  - 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.
KW  - Vaccine-modified measles (VMM)
KW  -  interferon-gamma (IFN-γ)
KW  -  interleukin (IL)
KW  -  tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)
KW  -  tumor growth factor-beta 1(TGF-β1)
KW  -  T helper (Th)

DO  -