Interleukin-18 plays a role in both the alum-induced T helper 2 response and the T helper 1 response induced by alum-adsorbed interleukin-12.
Previous studies have shown that the antigen-specific T helper 2 (Th2) response induced by alum adjuvants is interleukin (IL)-4 independent. As a role for IL-18 in Th2 induction has recently been described, in addition to its role in enhancing Th1 responses, we have studied the Th2 response induced by ovalbumin ( OVA) adsorbed to alum in wild-type and IL-18-deficient mice. Our results indicate that while endogenous IL-18 facilitates alum- induced IL-4 production, OVA-specific immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) and IgE production remain unaffected. Furthermore, antigen-specific Th1 responses induced with alum/IL-12-adsorbed OVA were demonstrated to be highly IL-18 dependent. Despite these observations, injection of BALB/c mice with exogenous IL-18 adsorbed to alum/ OVA did not alter IL-4 or interferon-gamma production by T cells and had little effect on the relative production of IgG1/IgG2a antibody subclasses compared with alum/ OVA inoculated mice. However, the previously described synergism between IL-12 and IL-18 in Th1 induction was evident as the Th1- promoting activity of alum/IL-12 against adsorbed OVA was greatly augmented by the coadministration of IL-18. These results indicate that while alum-induced IL-18 can facilitate Th2 induction, the addition of exogenous IL-18 cannot further enhance the alum- induced Th2 response.[1]References
- Interleukin-18 plays a role in both the alum-induced T helper 2 response and the T helper 1 response induced by alum-adsorbed interleukin-12. Pollock, K.G., Conacher, M., Wei, X.Q., Alexander, J., Brewer, J.M. Immunology (2003) [Pubmed]
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