HCMV specific T-cells in peripheral blood and mucosal tissue secrete IL-10.

<p>(A) Total leukocytes from colon and peripheral blood (left) or peripheral blood CD4⁺ T-cells isolated by negative selection (right) were isolated from colorectal patients undergoing surgery (left) or HCMV sero-positive healthy donors (right) were stimulated with γ-irradiated autologous targets that were pre-pulsed with vehicle control, pp65 or gB peptide pool. γ-irradiated autologous targets pre-pulsed with vehicle control or pp65 is also shown from healthy CMV sero-positive individuals. After 16hrs, cytokine expression was analyzed using a human IFNγ/IL-10 fluorospot kit where green spots represent IFNγ⁺ cells, red spots represent IL-10⁺ cells and yellow spots indicate dual IFNγ⁺/IL-10⁺ cells. (B) Peptide-specific spot forming cell (SFC) were calculated after subtraction of SFCs in medium-stimulated wells. Data is expressed as mean + SEM of duplicate values. Individual donors are shown.