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Infection and Immunity, September 2000, p. 5234-5240, Vol. 68, No. 9
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Induction of Interleukin-4 (IL-4) by Legionella pneumophila Infection in BALB/c Mice and Regulation of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha, IL-6, and IL-1beta

Catherine Newton,* Shannon McHugh, Ray Widen, Noriya Nakachi, Thomas Klein, and Herman Friedman

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida 33612

Received 29 December 1999/Returned for modification 18 February 2000/Accepted 14 June 2000

Infection of BALB/c mice with a sublethal concentration of Legionella pneumophila causes an acute disease that is resolved by innate immune responses. The infection also initiates the development of adaptive Th1 responses that protect the mice from challenge infections. To study the early responses, cytokines induced during the first 24 h after infection were examined. In the serum, interleukin-12 (IL-12) was detectable by 3 h and peaked at 10 h, while gamma interferon was discernible by 5 h and peaked at 8 h. Similar patterns were observed in ex vivo cultures of splenocytes. A transient IL-4 response was also detected by 3 h postinfection in ex vivo cultures. BALB/c IL-4-deficient mice were more susceptible to L. pneumophila infection than were wild-type mice. The infection induced higher serum levels of acute-phase cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha ], IL-1beta , and IL-6), and reducing TNF-alpha levels with antibodies protected the mice from death. Moreover, the addition of IL-4 to L. pneumophila-infected macrophage cultures suppressed the production of these cytokines. Thus, the lack of IL-4 in the deficient mice resulted in unchecked TNF-alpha production, which appeared to cause the mortality. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), a chemokine that is induced by IL-4 during Listeria monocytogenes infection, was detected at between 2 and 30 h after infection. However, MCP-1 did not appear to be induced by IL-4 or to be required for the TNF-alpha regulation by IL-4. The data suggest that the early increase in IL-4 serves to regulate the mobilization of acute phase cytokines and thus controls the potential harmful effects of these cytokines.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Florida College of Medicine, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612. Phone: (813) 974-4017. Fax: (813) 974-4151. E-mail: cnewton{at}hsc.usf.edu.

Infection and Immunity, September 2000, p. 5234-5240, Vol. 68, No. 9
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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