Th1 polarization in familial Mediterranean fever.

Objective: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by fever and serosal inflammation accompanied with an outburst of acute phase inflammatory products and cytokines. We studied the role of T helper (Th) 1 and 2 cells in FMF to elucidate the character of the inflammation. The cytokine products of Th1 and Th2, interferon-g (IFN-g) and interleukin 4 (IL-4), respectively, were analyzed by intracellular cytokine staining and FACS analysis.