TY - JOUR
T1 - Systemic cytokine responses in patients with influenza-associated encephalopathy
AU - Kawada, Jun Ichi
AU - Kimura, Hiroshi
AU - Ito, Yoshinori
AU - Hara, Shinya
AU - Iriyama, Masahiro
AU - Yoshikawa, Tetsushi
AU - Morishima, Tsuneo
N1 - Funding Information:
Received 27 November 2002; accepted 1 April 2002; electronically published 20 August 2003. Financial support: Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Labor of Japan (grant). Reprints or correspondence: Dr. Jun-ichi Kawada, Dept. of Pediatrics, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan ([email protected]).
PY - 2003/9/1
Y1 - 2003/9/1
N2 - Influenza-associated encephalopathy, a severe neurologic complication of influenza, is being reported more frequently in Japan. We investigated the transcription of cytokine genes in peripheral blood leukocytes and compared patients with influenza and with encephalopathy or febrile convulsions and patients with influenza but without neurologic complications. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed that transcription of the interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-α genes was up-regulated to a greater extent in patients with encephalopathy than in those without neurologic complications. Plasma IL-6 levels also were higher in patients with encephalopathy, although the difference was marginal. Viral RNA in throat swabs was quantified using a real-time quantitative PCR. The virus load was similar among patients with encephalopathy or febrile convulsions or without neurologic complications. Furthermore, virus load was not correlated with either the transcription of cytokine genes or plasma cytokine concentrations. These results suggest that influenza-associated encephalopathy might be a consequence of systemic immune responses.
AB - Influenza-associated encephalopathy, a severe neurologic complication of influenza, is being reported more frequently in Japan. We investigated the transcription of cytokine genes in peripheral blood leukocytes and compared patients with influenza and with encephalopathy or febrile convulsions and patients with influenza but without neurologic complications. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed that transcription of the interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-α genes was up-regulated to a greater extent in patients with encephalopathy than in those without neurologic complications. Plasma IL-6 levels also were higher in patients with encephalopathy, although the difference was marginal. Viral RNA in throat swabs was quantified using a real-time quantitative PCR. The virus load was similar among patients with encephalopathy or febrile convulsions or without neurologic complications. Furthermore, virus load was not correlated with either the transcription of cytokine genes or plasma cytokine concentrations. These results suggest that influenza-associated encephalopathy might be a consequence of systemic immune responses.
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U2 - 10.1086/377101
DO - 10.1086/377101
M3 - Article
C2 - 12934185
AN - SCOPUS:0141835899
SN - 0022-1899
VL - 188
SP - 690
EP - 698
JO - Journal of Infectious Diseases
JF - Journal of Infectious Diseases
IS - 5
ER -
