IgE synthesis-enhancing factor: modification of its production in the course of long-term immunotherapy

The isotype-specific mechanisms involved in IgE synthesis are a sophisticated system about which very little is known.

Several research groups have demonstrated that there is an enhancing factor (EF) in lymphocyte supernatants which is related to the regulation of the synthesis of IgE, and the influence medium-long-term immunotherapy (IT) exerts on it. Following this line of research, we studied the influence of long-term IT (> 3 years) and the presence of interleukin-4 (IL-4), not only in the different fractions where EF is contained, but also in lymphocyte supernatants after stimulation. Bidirectional mixed lymphocyte cultures were performed between lymphocytes from healthy controls (n = 62) and allergic patients (n = 98) after different periods of IT. The supernatants obtained were submitted to affinity chromatography and the second fractions, containing EF, were added to healthy control lymphocytes (n = 11) in order to test their enhancing effect on IgE synthesis.

Modifications in EF production were observed, depending on the duration of IT. There were no detectable levels of IL-4 either in EF fractions or supernatants from stimulated lymphocytes.

CITATION  J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 1993 Jan-Feb;3(1):40-4