Profile of transforming growth factor-beta 1 in patients with dengue haemorrhagic fever

The pathogenesis of dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) is incompletely understood but it has been suggested that various cytokines may have a role in the process. In this study the profile of the cytokine Transforming Growth Factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) was investigated in the sera of 79 patients with various grades of dengue illness and in 21 normal healthy controls. Also, TGF-beta 1-specific mRNA was examined in their peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The results showed that neither TGF-beta 1 protein nor its mRNA were detected in healthy controls. In dengue patients, the TGF-beta 1 protein and its mRNA were detected in 96%. However, among the patient groups, the levels of TGF-beta 1 were lowest in patients with dengue fever (DF; mean value 315 +/- 95 pg/ml) and were highest in patients with DHF grade IV (mean value 1350 +/- 280 pg/ml; P = <0.001). The cytokine appeared during the first four days of illness (304 +/- 90 pg/ml) and gradually increased, reaching peak levels (1050 +/- 215 pg/ml) after the 9th day of the illness. Thus TGF-beta 1 in the sera and TGF-beta 1-mRNA in the PBMC were present in most of the patients with dengue (96%) but the cytokine levels were highest during the later periods of illness and in patients with DHF grade IV, suggesting a possible role of TGF-beta 1 in the pathogenesis of DHF.