Role of IFN gamma on TNF alpha, IL-1 beta and IL-6 release during HHV-6 infection

The release of monokines such as Tumor Necrosis Factor a (TNFα), Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) by activated monocytes/macrophages is an important step in the immune as well as in the inflammatory response. In this study the production of TNFα, IL-1β and IL-6 by human monocytes (HM) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was evaluated after HHV-6 infection. Our results demonstrate that HHV-6 can selectively regulate monokine synthesis, in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, we observed a different response closely related to the cellular population (HM or PBMC) examined. The hypothesis we evaluated was that IFNγ is an important factor triggering the activation of HHV-6 infected human monocytes, to release monokines.