Eotaxin, a potent eosinophil-specific chemotactic factor is increased in th
e lower respiratory tract of asthma patients. Recently, lung fibroblasts ha
ve been reported to produce eotaxin and their, activation can be modulated
by inflammatory cytokines. To test the hypothesis that inflammatory cytokin
es modulate the eotaxin release from lung fibroblasts, top investigated the
potential of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), turner necrosis factor-alpha
(TNF-alpha), or interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) to induce the release of eotax
in and eotaxin mRNA by the human fetal lung fibroblast tell line, HFL-1, wa
s evaluated. HFL-1 released eotaxin constitutively without stimulation, but
IL-1 beta or TNF-alpha stimulated eotaxin release in a dose- and time-depe
ndent manner. IL-1 beta or TNF-alpha treatment of HFL-1 also resulted in th
e augmented expression of eotaxin mRNA. Although IFN-gamma alone had neglig
ible effect on eotaxin release and mRNA expression, IFN-gamma induced a sig
nificant, concentration-dependent attenuation of eotaxin release and eotaxi
n mRNA expression from HFL-1 stimulated with IL-1 beta or TNF-alpha. These
finding are consistent with the concept that lung fibroblast-derived eotaxi
n may in part be responsible for the eosinophil infiltration observed in th
e airways of asthmatic patients and that network of cytokines may modulate
the eosinophil recruitment to the airways by stimulation of fibroblasts to
release eotaxin.