[Cytokine production in relation to the rate of infestation in patients with chronic opisthorchiasis].

The aim of the investigation was to study the specific features of in vitro cytokine production in response to specific parasitic antigens, mycobacterial antigen, and nonspecific mitogens in patients with chronic opithorchiasis who had varying infestation rates. There was a considerable increase in the mononuclear cell production of interleukin-4 and interleukin-10 after specific Opisthorhis antigen stimulation with purified tuberculin derivate or the mitogen conconavalin A in opisthorchiasis patients having varying infestation rates as compared with appropriate parameters in healthy individuals. The production of these cytokines in opisthorchiasis patients with a high infestation rate (Group 2) was significantly higher than that in those with a low infestation rate (Group 1). The mononuclear cell production of interferon-y in the culture stimulated by specific Opisthorhis antigens, tuberculin, or phytohemagglutinin in opisthorchiasis patients with a high infestation rate (Group 2) was not only much lower than that in the control group, but also as compared with the appropriate parameters in Group 1 patients. Thus, the mononuclear cell-stimulated production of cytokines in vitro in patients correlates with the rate of infestation. The highest mononuclear cell production of interleukin-4 and interleukin-10 and the highest suppression of interferon-gamma secretion are characteristic of the patients who have high infestation rates, suggesting the predominance of the type 2 response ofT helper cells.