AUGMENTATION OF CELL-MEDIATED IMMUNOTHERAPY AGAINST HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS BY INTERLEUKINS - COMPARISON OF IN-VIVO EFFECTS OF IL-2 AND IL-7 ON ADOPTIVELY TRANSFERRED T-CELLS

We investigated the ability of human recombinant interleukin-7 (IL-7) to enhance cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity in vivo using mice in fected with herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1). IL-7 or interleukin-2 (IL-2) was administered twice daily to immune naive mice subjected to adoptive transfer of immune T cells after infection with HSV-1. The i mmunotherapeutic effect was measured by detecting the virus recovered fr om pinna. Administration of HSV-1 immune T cells to naive mice sign ificantly increased their ability to clear the virus. Twice-daily inje ctions of IL-7 at 200 IU provided an additional 20-fold reduction in v irus load, compared with T cell therapy alone (P < 0.0005). Combining IL-2 and T cell therapy provided about a sevenfold reduction compared with T cell therapy alone (P < 0.0009). IL-7 also enhanced the antivir al effects of T cell therapy against HSV-1 through the enhancement of CD8(+) CTLs, as observed with IL-2. These results indicate that IL-7 m ay be used adjunct to adoptive T lymphocyte therapy in modulating huma n viral diseases and cancer through enhanced immune T cell activities. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.