Original Contribution THE IMMUNOMODULATORY C3 BINDING GLYCOPROTEIN INDUCES IL-12 AND CHANGES IL-12/IL-10 RATIO IN STIMULATED HUMAN PBMC

The induction of IL-12 and IL-10 production by the immunomodulatory C3 binding glycoprotein (C3bgp) was studied on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Isolated PBMC from healthy human donors were cultured 24 hours with C3bgp isolated from Cuscuta europea. We studied also the influence of C3bgp on the cytokine production in LPS-, PHA- and PWM-stimulated PBMC. The levels of these cytokines in the various culture supernatants were subsequently determined using ELISA. Results showed that amount of IL-12 was significantly higher in C3bgp-stimulated cultures i