EFFECT OF PIDOTIMOD ON PRODUCTION OF PRO- AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES EX VIVO

<strong><em></em></strong><em>Pidotimod is per oral immunomodulator; its efficacy is conditioned by activation of different components of immune system. The efficacy of pidotimod was studied in frequently sick children; its influence on the production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines with leucocytes in peripheral blood was evaluated. The study was performed ex vivo with 15 samples of peripheral blood of frequently sick children 4 years old. The rate of interferon (IFN) status, sensitivity to pidotimod, concentration of pro-inflammatory (IFN , Interleukin [Il] 18) and anti-inflammatory (Il 4, 10) cytokines were detected before and after processing the samples with the drug. Pidotimodex vivo induced more than 4 times increase of initially low production of IFN with leucocytes of peripheral blood (from 11.5 ± 3.4 to 51.8 ± 8.3 U/ml). It did not influence the production of IFN _ (432 ± 49 and 448 ± 30 U/ml — before and after processing the samples correspondingly). The drug stimulated production of IFN ex vivo; the concentration of IFN compared to its spontaneous production increased from 2.3 ± 0.9 to 11.8 ± 1.6 picogram/ml correspondingly. Stimulation of PGA-induced production of IFN was less expressed; it increased in correlation with the time of exposition 1.5–2.5 times higher compared to induction of IFN synthesis without the drug. The drug favored to increase of Il 18 level (spontaneous — from 23.5 ± 3.5 to 49.1 ± 2.2 pg/ml, induced — from 34.2 ± 2.4 to 47.8 ± 4.4 pg/ml) and Il 10 (from 6.7 ± 1.3 to 15.5 ± 0.9 pg/ml and from 20.6 ± 1.2 to 42.7 ± 2.5 pg/ml correspondingly). As the production of cytokines increased because of pidotimod, the level of Il 4 (as spontaneous, as induced one) decreased from 2.6 ± 0.8 to 0.5 ± 0.2 pg/ml correspondingly. Thus, pidotimod ex vivo stimulates the synthesis of IFN , Il 10 and 18 and decreases the level of Il 4. These effects favor to the activation of Th1 immune response of organism.</em><br /><strong><em>Key words: frequently sick children, cytokines, pidotimod</em>.</strong><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><em><em>(Voprosy sovremennoi pediatrii — Current Pediatrics. </em></em></em><em><em><em>2011; 10 (4): <em>129–132</em>)</em></em></em>