ENHANCED INTERLEUKIN-10 PRODUCTION IN RESPONSE TO MYCOBACTERIUM-AVIUMPRODUCTS IN MONONUCLEAR-CELLS FROM PATIENTS WITH HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS INFECTION

Patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection ar e susceptible to infections with Mycobacterium avium complex: (MAC). I nterleukin (IL)-10 may impair immunity to MAC; therefore, the effect o f different MAC preparations on IL-10 production was examined in monon uclear cell cultures from HIV-infected patients, IL-10 levels in cultu res for 26 patients were higher than those in 20 control cultures, The highest IL-10 levels were found in cultures from patients with the mo st advanced HIV disease, Monocytes were the major IL-10 producers, whi le little IL-10 could be attributed to Th2 lymphocytes, Cultures for p atients produced reduced levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and nor mal levels of IL-12; the production of these cytokines increased after neutralization of IL-10. Circulating IL-10 was higher in HIV-infected patients than in controls, with the highest levels in the AIDS group, Elevated monocyte/macrophage-derived IL-10 production may contribute to the high susceptibility to MAC infection seen in patients with adva nced HIV disease.