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Plasma levels of interleukin‐18 and interleukin‐12 in Plasmodium falciparum malaria
Author(s) -
Malaguarnera Lucia,
Pignatelli Salvatore,
Musumeci Maria,
Simporè Jacques,
Musumeci Salvatore
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
parasite immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1365-3024
pISSN - 0141-9838
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3024.2002.00485.x
Subject(s) - plasmodium falciparum , malaria , immunology , biology , immune system , interleukin , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , interleukin 2 , interferon gamma , cytokine , interleukin 4 , interleukin 10 , in vitro , biochemistry
SUMMARY Interleukin (IL)‐18 produced primarily by mononuclear phagocytes synergizes with IL‐12 for interferon‐γ production from T, B and natural killer cells. It has been also demonstrated that, in Plasmodium falciparum malaria, IL‐18 could have an immunoregulatory function. The aim of this study was to detect the plasma levels of IL‐12 and IL‐18, using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, in 105 African children affected by mild and severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria to correlate the production of these cytokines with the severity of the disease. The levels of IL‐18 and IL‐12 were higher (25·7 ± 7·6 pg/ml and 17·1 ± 7·8 pg/ml, respectively) in children with mild malaria than in children with a severe form of the disease (21·5 ± 10 pg/ml and 13·2 ± 5·5 pg/ml, respectively). A positive correlation was observed between IL‐18 and IL‐12. This finding suggests that the production of these two cytokines (IL‐18 and IL 12) may be coregulated and both have an immunoregulatory effect on the immune response in Plasmodium falciparum infection.