Acta haematologica
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Interleukin-1, -6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha release is down-regulated in whole blood from septic patients.
Proinflammatory cytokines are important mediators during endotoxemia. In experimental models, injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activates macrophages leading to excessive secretion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1 beta and IL-6; infusion of high dose of these mediators results in organ failure and death. Natural infection may be different, because it persists over days or even weeks, with repeated endotoxin challenge to macrophages. ⋯ These results indicate that different mechanisms down-regulate proinflammatory cytokine release in the whole blood of septic patients. Although excessive secretion is known to be deleterious, low concentrations of these cytokines are involved in regulating essential cellular and humoral immune functions. Thus, the reduced capacity to express and release adequate amounts of proinflammatory cytokines after exposure to endotoxin, as observed in whole-blood PBMCs from septic patients, may contribute to the development of immunodeficiency.