A CHANGE OF IL-2 AND IL-4 PRODUCTION IN PATIENTS WITH HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTION

HELICOBACTER pylori is the most common cause of gastroduodenal inflamm ation However, the exact immune pathogenesis is not fully understood T o look for evidence of the immunological mechanism in H. pylori associ ated disease, we measured cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2) and IL-4 level s produced by peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and gastric biopsies in 20 subjects with or without H. pylori infection. H. pylori can stim ulate IL-2 and IL-4 production from PBL in H. pylori negative as well as N. pylori positive individuals. The spontaneous IL-2 production by PBL and gastric biopsies was greater (p < 0.0025, < 0.001) in H. pylor i negative individuals than that in H. pylori infected patients. Incre ased IL-4 levels from PBL in H. pylori infected patients were found in the presence of H. pylori (p < 0.0025). An increased spontaneous prod uction of IL-4 from gastric biopsies was also observed in H. pylori in fected patients (p < 0.025). In conclusion, an enhanced type 2 cytokin e production was observed in H. pylori infected patients, which may be responsible for N. pylori chronic infection.