Proteins and endotoxin in house dust mite extracts modulate cytokine secretion and gene expression by dermal fibroblasts.

House dust mite extracts used for diagnostic tests and immunotherapy contain bioreactive molecules including proteins and endotoxin. These extracts can influence the cytokine secretion and adhesion molecule expression by cells in the skin and lung airways. The aim of this study was to determine the role of proteins and endotoxin in mite extracts in modulating gene expression and cytokine secretion by human dermal fibroblasts. Cultured normal human dermal fibroblasts were stimulated with whole mite extracts, mite extracts boiled to denature proteins, or mite extracts treated with polymyxin B to inactivate lipopolysaccharide. Gene expression and secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) were determined after 6 h of stimulation. Whole Dermatophagoides farinae, D. pteronyssinus and Euroglyphus maynei extracts induced dose-dependent IL-6 and IL-8 secretion. In addition, D. farinae and E. maynei induced secretion of MCP-1. Dermatophagoides farinae and E. maynei also induced parallel cytokine gene expression. Cells stimulated with boiled D. farinae extract showed moderate to marked reductions in IL-6 and IL-8 secretion. In contrast, boiled D. pteronyssinus and E. maynei extracts induced equal or greater cytokine secretions than untreated extracts. The stimulating properties were reduced for all three extracts following treatment with polymyxin B. Our data suggest that both endotoxin and proteins in mite extracts modulate the secretion of cytokines by dermal fibroblasts. The biological activities of D. farinae, D. pteronyssinus, and E. maynei extracts are not equivalent. There appears to be a lipopolysaccharide-binding protein in some mite extracts.