Ar. Hayward et al., CYTOKINE PRODUCTION IN VARICELLA-ZOSTER VIRUS-STIMULATED CULTURES OF HUMAN BLOOD-LYMPHOCYTES, The Journal of infectious diseases, 178, 1998, pp. 95-98
Estimates of responder cell frequency (RCF) based on limiting dilution
analyses are laborious, and alternative means to quantitate cell-medi
ated immunity to immunogens are desirable. It was shown that levels of
interleukin (IL)-2 in the supernatant of varicella-zoster virus-stimu
lated blood lymphocytes from immune adults peaked at 48 h of culture a
nd correlated partially with estimates of RCF (r = .74, P = .003). Lev
els of gamma-interferon, IL-4, and IL-10 increased through the first 4
days of culture, and gamma-interferon levels showed some correlation
with peak IL-2 levels (r = .48, P = .03). Nevertheless, correlations b
etween levels of these cytokines and RCF did not reach statistically s
ignificant levels.