The neopterin response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to in vitro EBV transformation process of B lymphocytes

The Neopterin Response of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells to in vitro EBV Transformation Process of B LymphocytesObjective: Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) is a human herpesvirus, which infects human B lymphocytes latently and immortalizes the cells due to transformation. EBV infection is asymptomatic in childhood while it may cause a self-limiting lymphoproliferative disorder called infectious mononucleosis (IM) in adolescence. More than 95% of world population has been infected with EBV. In this study it has been aimed to show the interaction between in vitro EBV transformation and neopterin which is a marker for cellular immune activity and accompanying different cytokine responses.Method: In order to analyze the influences with neopterin release and other cytokines, mononuclear cells have been isolated from peripheral blood samples of healthy donors and transformed via EBV. Neopterin, IFN-?, TNF- ? and IL-6 levels have been measured with EIA kits in culture supernatants.Results: Neopterin levels have increased dependent on time and independent from EBV transformation. In EBV transformed cell culture TNF-? level increased beginning from the 72nd hour and reached to their peaks at the 1st week and decreased again at the 3rd week; however there were no significant differences among the levels between three weeks. Similar to TNF ?, IFN-? levels also increased at the 1st week and started to decrease at the 3rd week. IL-6 reached to its maximum levels at the 3rd week.Conclusion: According to these results, neopterin levels which increased dependent on time and independent from EBV transformation may be a helpful marker for evaluating the acute response to viral infection, but not for B lymphocyte transformation.