TRANSIENT CHANGES IN CYTOKINE PROFILES FOLLOWING IVERMECTIN TREATMENTOF ONCHOCERCIASIS

Cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells after antige n or mitogen stimulation was assessed before and after semiannual iver mectin treatment of 27 patients with onchocerciasis. Before treatment, Onchocerca volvulus antigen (OvA) elicited interleukin (IL)-5 product ion but inhibited production of IL-10, granulocyte-macrophage colony-s timulating factor (GM-CSF), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Six month s after the first dose of ivermectin, there were increases in the IL-2 , IL-4, IL-5, and interferon-gamma responses to mitogen and in the GM- CSF and IL-10 responses to OvA. By 24 months (after four ivermectin do ses), OvA-induced GM-CSF production and mitogen-induced IL-2 and IL-10 production remained elevated above pretreatment levels, whereas that of other cytokines returned to or below pretreatment levels. These tra nsient changes in cytokine response profiles of patients with onchocer ciasis following ivermectin treatment likely reflect changes in antige n load.