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Interleukin 4 responses in acute leukaemia patients with severe chemotherapy‐induced leucopenia
Author(s) -
Bruserud Ø.,
Ulvestad E.,
Halstensen A.,
Berentsen S.,
Bergheim J.,
Nesthus I.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
european journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1600-0609
pISSN - 0902-4441
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.1997.tb01686.x
Subject(s) - il 2 receptor , interleukin 4 , immunology , cd8 , interleukin 2 , transferrin receptor , cytokine , medicine , receptor , t lymphocyte , biology , t cell , immune system
T lymphocyte functions in acute leukaemia patients with severe chemotherapy‐induced leucopenia were investigated using 3 different approaches: (i) analysis of serum concentrations of the T cell cytokine interleukin 4 (IL4) demonstrated that serum IL4 levels increased during complicating bacterial infections. However, this response was modulated by a concomitant increase in serum levels of the potential IL4 antagonist soluble IL4 receptor α chain (sIL4Rα). (ii) Even during leucopenia a subset of T lymphocytes derived from leucopenic patients expressed the activation markers CD25 (IL2 receptor), CD71 (transferrin receptor) and HLA‐DR. (iii) Subsets of circulating CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes could undergo clonogenic proliferation in vitro , and a majority of these clones secreted IL4. CD4 + clones showed higher IL4 levels than CD8 + clones. Our results indicate that T lymphocytes can be activated and contribute to cytokine responses in acute leukaemia patients with severe chemotherapy‐induced cytopenia.