@article{447e27501a4811df8ed1000ea68e967b,
title = "The immune response to chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection in cystic fibrosis patients is predominantly of the Th2 type",
abstract = "Most cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection have a persistent acute type lung inflammation dominated by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and a pronounced antibody response against P. aeruginosa. We speculated whether this immune response in CF is of the Th2 type and whether a change to a Th1 type immune response could improve the prognosis. Therefore, we studied 14 CF patients with (CF +P) and 14 CF patients without (CF -P) chronic P. aeruginosa lung infection. The specific production of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells was determined. Cells from CF +P patients had lower IFN-gamma (p<0.05) and higher IL-4 (p<0.005) production as compared to cells from CF -P patients. Furthermore, a positive correlation between IFN-gamma production and lung function was found (FVC: Rho = 0.637; p<0.03; FEV1: Rho=0.524; p<0.07). We conclude that a Th2 type immune response is most frequent in CF patients with chronic P. aeruginosa lung infection, and the patients with a Th1-dominated immune response had the best lung function. The clinical implication is that a change to a Th1 type immune response might improve the prognosis in these patients.",
author = "C Moser and S Kjaergaard and T Pressler and A Kharazmi and C Koch and N H{\o}iby",
note = "Keywords: Adult; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Chronic Disease; Cystic Fibrosis; Female; Humans; Interferon-gamma; Interleukin-4; Lung Diseases; Male; Pseudomonas Infections; Th2 Cells",
year = "2000",
language = "English",
volume = "108",
pages = "329--35",
journal = "APMIS. Supplementum",
issn = "0903-465X",
publisher = "Wiley Online",
number = "5",
}