Human recombinant IL-4 suppresses the induction of human IL-2 induced lymphokine activated killer (LAK) activity.

The effect of recombinant human interleukin 4 (rhIL-4) on the induction in vitro of human lymphokine activated killer cell (LAK) activity was investigated. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from normal healthy donors were incubated for 4 days with or without recombinant human interleukin-2 (rhIL-2) in the presence or absence of rhIL-4. LAK activity was measured against the NK-resistant colon adenocarcinoma cell line SW742, and NK mediated cytotoxicity was determined using NK sensitive K562 cells. Unlike previous reports using mouse effector cells, rhIL-4 neither induced LAK activity nor augmented the cytotoxic response induced by rhIL-2. In four out of six experiments there was a significant reduction of rhIL-2 induced LAK in the presence of rhIL-4, accompanied by a reduction of Tac antigen expression by rhIL-2 activated cells. Recombinant hIL-4 failed to influence the effector phase of the activated PBMC against SW742 or K562 targets.