Inhibitory effect of interleukin-13 on cell proliferation and interleukin-6 production in mesangial cells

AIM: To investigate the effect of interleukin-13 (IL-13) on cell proliferation and interleukin-6 (IL-6) production in mesangial cells. METHODS: Cell proliferation was tested by MTT method. The protein synthesis of IL-6 in mesangial cells was measured by ELISA. The expression of IL-6 mRNA in mesangial cells was evaluated by RT-PCR. RESULTS: IL-13(1 μg/L-100 μg/L) inhibited the proliferation of mesangial cell in a dose-dependent manner. Both mRNA and protein of IL-6 in mesangial cells were increased significantly in the presence of LPS and this increase could be reversed by IL-13 (1μg/L-100μg/L). However, this increase could not be reversed by IL-13 if the dose was lower than 0.1μg/L and if the mesangial cells were cultured in 5% FCS RPMI1640. CONCLUSION: IL-13 could inhibit IL-6 expression induced by LPS in mesangial cells . We suggested that IL-13 may be an inhibitory cytokine in the regulation of the mesangial cell proliferaltion and inflammatory reaction in glomerulonephritis.