In vitro production of human interleukin lα and interleukin 1β by peripheral blood mononuclear cells examined by sensitive sandwich enzyme immunoassay

Abstract

The in vitro production of human interleukin 1α (hIL 1α) and interleukin 1β (hIL 1β) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells was examined by sensitive sandwich enzyme immunoassays which could discriminate hIL 1α and hIL 1β without cross-reaction with human IL2. In culture supernatants of mononuclear cells, two components were detected by sandwich enzyme immunoassay for hIL 1α or hIL 1β. The molecular weight of one component was shown to be equal to that of recombinant hIL 1α or hIL 1β by gel filtration. The elution volume of the other component corresponded to a molecular weight of about 30000. The sum of the two components for both hIL 1α and hIL 1β in culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy subjects increased 1.7 to 38-fold by Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide. The sum of the two components for hIL 1β was 13 to 97-fold larger than that for hIL 1α.