Protection of mice by combined treatment with IL-12 and IL-18 against pulmonary and disseminated infection with cryptococcus enoformans

摘要

Host defense to infectionwith Cryptococcus neoformans is mediated by cellular immunity, in whicl mechanism Thl cytokines such as interferon (IFN)- #gamma# play a central role. In recent studies, two different IFN- #gamma# -inducing cytokines, interleukin (IL-12) and IL-18, have been identified and found to be involved in the differentiation of Thl cells. We reported recently that interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-18 synergistically increased th fungicidal activity of mouse peritoneal exudate cells against C. neoformans by inducing the production of IFN- #gamma# by natural killer (NK) cells. In the present study, to confirm these findings in vivo, we examined the effect of combined treatment using these two cytokines on the course of experimentally-induced pulmonary and disseminated cryptococcosis in mice.