The production of anti-inflammatory cytokines in whole blood by physico-chemical induction

Abstract   Objective and design: Cytokines such as interleukin-1 (IL-1) play an important role in degenerative musculo-skeletal diseases, including osteoarthritis, and a multitude of inflammatory disorders. Agents that inhibit the action of such cytokines have a high therapeutic potential in such diseases. Here we describe a new method for enhancing the production of the interleukin-l receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) and other anti-inflammatory cytokines in whole blood. Material and methods: Human venous blood was incubated in the presence of CrSO4-treated glass beads. Serum was recovered and the concentrations of IL-1Ra and other relevant cytokines were measured by ELISA.