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Journal of Virology, July 2009, p. 7244-7251, Vol. 83, No. 14
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.00148-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Cytokine Imbalance after Measles Virus Infection Has No Correlation with Immune Suppression{triangledown}

Mary Carsillo,1 Kay Klapproth,3 and Stefan Niewiesk1,2*

Department of Veterinary Biosciences,1 Department for Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,2 Institut fuer Virologie und Immunbiologie, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany3

Received 22 January 2009/ Accepted 27 April 2009

Measles virus infection leads to immune suppression. A potential mechanism is the reduction of interleukin 12 (IL-12) secretion during acute measles, resulting in a TH2 response. Studies in humans have reported conflicting results, detecting either a TH2 or a TH1 response. We have investigated the correlation between a TH2 response and immune suppression in specific-pathogen-free inbred cotton rats which were infected with measles vaccine and wild-type viruses. After infection of bone marrow-derived macrophages with wild-type virus, IL-12 secretion was reduced in contrast to the level for vaccine virus infection. In bronchoalveolar lavage cells, IL-12 secretion was suppressed after infection with both wild-type and vaccine virus on days 2, 4, and 6 and was detectable on days 8 and 10. After stimulation of mediastinal lymph node and spleen cells with UV-inactivated measles virus at various time points after infection, gamma interferon but no IL-4 was found. After stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate-ionomycin, high gamma interferon and low IL-4 levels were detected. To investigate whether the secretion of IL-4 contributes to immune suppression, a recombinant vaccine virus was created which secretes cotton rat IL-4. After infection with this recombinant virus, IL-4 secretion was enhanced. However, neither inhibition of concanavalin A-stimulated spleen cells nor keyhole limpet hemocyanin-specific proliferation of spleen cells was altered after infection with the recombinant virus in comparison to the levels with the parental virus. Our data indicate that measles virus infection leads to a decrease in IL-12 secretion and an increase in IL-4 secretion, but this does not seem to correlate with immune suppression.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Veterinary Biosciences, 1925 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210. Phone: (614) 688-4257. Fax: (614) 292-6473. E-mail: niewiesk.1{at}osu.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 6 May 2009.

Journal of Virology, July 2009, p. 7244-7251, Vol. 83, No. 14
0022-538X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.00148-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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