Hemozoin differentially modulates the production of interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor in murine malaria.

When murine peritoneal macrophages were loaded in vitro with Plasmodium vinckei hemozoin and stimulated for 24 hours with interferon-gamma and/or Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide, the production of interleukin 6 (IL-6) was drastically reduced, whereas the secretion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) was increased. In addition, non-radioactive in situ hybridizations in spleen sections of P. vinckei infected mice showed more TNF than IL-6 gene expression in the red pulp around hemozoin accumulation. These results provide evidence that IL-6 and TNF are differentially modulated by hemozoin and that subsequently, the secretion of IL-6 seems to be independent of the TNF production during murine malaria.