Cytokine production of CD4+ and CD8+ peripheral T lymphocytes in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria

The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristic cytokine pattern of patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria. Using flow cytometry, we examined the frequency of IL4, IL-10, IL-13 and IFN-gamma producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells at a single cell level. In patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria, the frequency of IL-10 producing CD4+ and CD8 + T cells was significantly higher than that of control subjects, while the frequency of IFN-y producing helper and cytotoxic T cells was significantly lower. The proportion of IL-4 producing CD4 + T cells from patients with urticaria was significantly lower. The ratio of IL-4 producing CD8 + T cells and the proportion of IL-13 producing CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes did not show any significant difference between patients and controls. In our study, we could observe neither a dominant Th1 nor a dominant Th2 type cytokine pattern. We found a significant elevation in the intracellular IL-10 level which may be the cause of the down-regulated Th1 and Tc1 and partly Th2 lymphocyte functions.