01934nas a2200289   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653001400059653001900073653001100092653001900103653001200122653002800134653002100162100001300183700001100196700001500207700001100222700001300233700001600246700001700262245013900279300001000418490000800428520119400436022001401630       2004                            d  c2004 Apr-May10aCytokines10aHLA-D Antigens10aHumans10aInterleukin-1210aleprosy10aLeukocytes, Mononuclear10aReference Values1 aOhyama H1 aKato N1 aTakeuchi K1 aSoga Y1 aUemura Y1 aNishimura F1 aMatsushita S00aMonocytes of distinct clinical types of leprosy are differentially activated by cross-linking class II HLA molecules to secrete IL-12.  a271-40 v1123 a<p>Leprosy is characterized by a wide spectrum of clinical features depending on the individual differences in Th1-type immunity. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether monocyte activation by stimulus via class II HLA molecules would be correlated with the differences in cellular immune responses among diverse clinical forms of leprosy. IL-1beta and IL-12 productivity in monocyte preparations obtained from PBMCs was estimated in patients with lepromatous- and tuberculoid-type leprosy. We found that monocytes from lepromatous patients produced significantly higher (about 4-fold higher) amounts of IL-12 as compared to in patients with tuberculoid type of leprosy when class II HLA molecules were cross-linked with anti-HLA class II antibodies, whereas almost equal amounts of IL-1beta were produced from each monocyte preparation by stimulus via class II HLA molecules regardless of the clinical form of leprosy. These results suggest that monocyte activation differs between lepromatous and tuberculoid patients in terms of IL-12 secretion, which might be related to individual differences in the cellular immune responses according to the clinical type of leprosy.</p>  a0903-4641