LOW DOSAGES OF INTERLEUKIN-1 PROTECT MICE AGAINST LETHAL CEREBRAL MALARIA

In cerebral malaria, pathological changes can be found in the brain of infected people and in the brain of Plasmodium berghei-infected mice. The pathogenesis of cerebral malaria in mice is believed to be due to an immunopathological reaction giving rise to an excessive production of cytokines such as interferon γ (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). We find that low doses of interleukin 1 (Ilsl) protect mice against cerebral malaria ; IIr1 also inhibits parasitemia. The IIrl effect on parasitemia was not observed in nude mice and was at least partly reversed in mice treated with 11,1 in combination with antibody to IFN-γ, indicating the involvement of T cells. Mice protected against development of cerebral malaria by IIr1 treatment developed the syndrome when TNF was given as observed in control infected mice or infected mice treated with inactivated ID1. © 1990, Rockefeller University Press., All rights reserved.