Open Access

ARTICLE

Age-related changes in intracellular cytokine expression in healthy children

Verena Wiegering¹, Matthias Eyrich¹, Christian Wunder², Helga Günther², Paul G. Schlegel¹, Beate Winkler¹

1 Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation program, University Children’s Hospital Wuerzburg, Germany
2 Department of Anaesthesia, University of Wuerzburg, Germany

* Corresponding Author: V. Wiegering,

European Cytokine Network 2009, 20(2), 75-80. https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2009.0149

Accepted 13 May 2009;

Abstract

Cytokine production by human lymphocytes from healthy children (ages 0-18 years) was assessed using a flow cytometric procedure involving staining of intracellular cytokines by the paraformaldehyde-saponin procedure. To establish valid cytokine values for intracellular cytokine expression in healthy children in the different age groups, we measured 117 samples after 24 h in vitro stimulation with PMA, ionomycin and brefeldin followed by staining with intracellular anti-cytokine and surface antibodies. We found decreasing IL-2 expression, increasing IFN-γ and TNF-α production and stable IL-4, Ki67 and TGFb levels with advancing age. The cytokines were mainly produced by memory T-cells. Apart from age, there was a differential expression in boys and girls: boys (< 6 years) produce significantly more IL-2 (p < 0,04), while girls > 12 years produce more IFNg than boys of the same age (p < 0.05). This systematic analysis of cytokine profiles during childhood allows a better understanding of immune maturation and will contribute significantly to the interpretation of cytokine data from children with pathological conditions.

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Keywords

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