Interleukin-12 was not involved in promotion of T helper cell differentiation induced by theophyllin

AIM: To investigate the effect of theophylline on the naive T cell differentiation and the probable role of interleukin-12 (IL-12). METHODS: Naive cord blood T cells were treated with theophylline 10 mg/L for 3 d after stimulationwith PHA 100 mg/L. Differentiation of T cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. Theophylline 10 mg/L and IL-12-mAb 0.025 mg/L were added in cord blood mononuclear cell (CBMC) cultures primed with LPS 1 mg/L to detectthe levels of IL-12 and IL-12P40. The whole blood cultures were obtained from twelve health volunteers with orwithout administration of theophylline (200 mg). Cytokines were measured by enzyme linked immuno-sorbentassay. RESULTS: Theophylline promoted T helper 1 (Thl) cells differentiation from naive T cells (21.9 %卤10.3 %vs 9.4 %卤5.6 %, P<0.05), but had no significant effect on Th2 deviation. But theophylline inhibited the productionof IL-12 and IL-12P40 by CBMC in vitro (28卤6 ng/L vs 57卤14 ng/L and 88卤34 ng/L vs 214卤82 ng/L, P<0,01) andreduced IL-12 and IL-12P40 levels in whole blood cultures from healthy subjects (19卤11 ng/L vs 31卤15 ng/L and92卤13 ng/L vs 196卤49 ng/L, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Theophylline promoted the differentiation of Thl cells. IL-12 seemed not to be involved in this process.

瀹屾垚鏈烘瀯锛歔1]CorrespondencetoProfJiongYANG [2]DepartmentofRespiratoryDisease,RenminHospital,WuhanUniversity,Wuhan430060,China