RESUMO
Background: There is little information about the relationship between thymic hormones and atopy. Methods: Human thymostimulin was obtained from thymus of children who died in car crashes. These polypeptides were purified by a Sephadex G-50 column fractionation and incubated in vitro with human lymphocytes obtained from atopic and non-atopic subjects of different ages. The SDS-PAGE revealed at least the presence of three broad bands of proteins with 20, 30 and 60 kDa of molecular weight approximately. Levels of IL-4 from lymphocytic cultures were measured by ELISA and correlated with atopic and non-atopic status and with age. The non-atopic controls showed 5.20 UI/ml ± 1.14 UI/ml of IL-4 meanwhile the non-atopic cells stimulated showed 8.15 UI/ml ± 2.438 UI/ml. On the other hand, the atopic cells revealed a spontaneous release of 12 ± 1.812 UI/ml meanwhile those stimulated by the thymostimulin showed 18.53 UI/ml ± 1.40 UI/ml. Results: Thymic polypeptides were able to increase the levels of IL-4 in both groups although the atopic subjects showed the greater increase (p > 0.001) independently of their age. Conclusions: As it has been suggested that these hormones could be used therapeutically in atopic subjects, our results warn about the adverse effects that could be produced with them
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