Interleucina-12 e produção de citocinas por linfócitos T auxiliares periféricos em mulheres com câncer submetidas à imunoterapia com células dendríticas

Abstract

Introduction: Numerous immune cells are involved during an effective antitumor response, among them, T cytotoxi and T helper (Th) lymphocytes. Several studies demonstrated that tumoral regression is dependent on the production of IL-12, both in spontaneous situations or when the patient is under any sort of immunotherapy. Recently, a new type of Th has been described, the Th12, which is present in humans and animals with tumors, however, its function and interactions are yet unclear. The aim of this study was to clarify if the immunotherapy of patients with dendritic cells (DC) could change the quantity of this new subtype, as well as investigate which cytokines, in addition to IL-12 would have been produced by these lymphocytes, such as interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-ɣ (IFN-ɣ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). Methods: Fifteen oncology patients were submitted to immunotherapy with DCs and the lymphocytes from the peripheral blood were evaluated before and after the first two immunotherapy. Results: In women with cancer, the CD4+/IL-12+ cell presented an increase of %GATE (***p<p<0.0001) and a decrease of MFI (average fluorescence intensity) (***p=0.0002) and the cytokines IFN-γ (**p=0.0093) and IL-2 (***p=0.001) presented a decreased of MFI. During the immunotherapy phases, IL- 12 showed a decrease of %GATE (*p=0.0312). Conclusion: Women with invasive cancer present increased levels of IL-12 T helper lymphocytes and after the first two immunotherapies with DCs there was decrease of this cellular type.