Infection with Leishmania major induces interleukin-12 production in vivo.

• Autor(a) principal: Vieira, Leda Quercia
• Data de Publicação: 1994
• Outros Autores: Hondowicz, Brian D., Afonso, Luís Carlos Crocco, Wysocka, Maria, Trinchieri, Giorgio, Scott, Phillip
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFOP
• Texto Completo: http://www.repositorio.ufop.br/handle/123456789/4619; https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-2478(94)90187-2

Experimental infections of mice with the protozoan parasite Leishmania major provide an excellent model for defining the conditions required for generation of CD4 ÷ Thl and Th2 cells in vivo. Since interleukin-12 (IL-12) has been implicated in the development of Thl cells, we investigated whether L. major stimulates IL-12 production in vitro or in vivo. Surprisingly, macrophages cultured in vitro failed to produce IL-12 following L. major infection. In contrast, lymph node cells from C3H mice infected for 2 days with L. major produced elevated levels of IL-12. In order to determine if the inability to stimulate IL-12 production was limited to in vitro infections, we infected macrophages in vivo by inoculating L. major into the peritoneal cavity. Peritoneal cells isolated 24 h later exhibited a significant increase in the number of cells producing IL-12. In addition, supernatants harvested from these cells following culture contained elevated levels of IL-12. These data indicate that L. major infection induces increased IL-12 production in mice.