Inhibitory effect of rapamycin and dexamethasone on production of IL-17 and IFN-gamma in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada patients

• Published in: British journal of ophthalmology Vol. 93; no. 2; p. 249
• Main Authors: Yang, K, Wen, J, Liu, X, Kijlstra, A, Chen, L, Chi, W, Zhou, H, Huang, X, Yang, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-02-2009
• Subjects: Adult; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cells, Cultured; Dexamethasone - pharmacology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Glucocorticoids - pharmacology; Humans; Immunosuppressive Agents - pharmacology; Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis; Interleukin-17 - biosynthesis; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - drug effects; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - immunology; Male; Sirolimus - pharmacology; Uveomeningoencephalitic Syndrome - immunology
• ISSN: 1468-2079
• DOI: 10.1136/bjo.2008.142489

To evaluate the effect of rapamycin (RAPA) and dexamethasone (DEX) on the production of IL-17 and IFN-gamma by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) patients and healthy individuals.
Blood samples were drawn from 10 active VKH patients and 10 healthy individuals. PBMCs were cultured with or without anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies in the presence or absence of different concentrations of RAPA or DEX for 72 h. IL-17 and IFN-gamma concentrations in the supernatants were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
The expression of IL-17 and IFN-gamma was significantly increased in active VKH patients compared with that in healthy controls. Both RAPA and DEX were able to significantly inhibit the production of IL-17 and IFN-gamma by PBMCs from patients and healthy controls. RAPA was able to completely inhibit IL-17 production at a dosage of 10 ng/ml but only partially suppressed IFN-gamma production even at a much higher concentration (1000 ng/ml). DEX inhibited the production of both IL-17 and IFN-gamma by approximately 70%.
This study indicates that both RAPA and DEX inhibit the production of IL-17 and IFN-gamma by PBMCs. RAPA is much stronger in inhibiting the production of IL-17 than DEX.