Effect of exposure to pneumococcus on IL-17A expression from human tissues and cells.
A. Expression of IL-17A from tonsillar mononuclear cells from children. Tonsillar cells (n = 8) were cultured as described and stimulated with WCA or WCA derived from an isogenic, pneumolysin-negative strain (WCAply-). Stimulation with WCA was associated with significantly increased IL-17A expression compared to exposure to medium alone (P = 0.008 by Wilcoxon signed rank test), whereas stimulation with WCAply- did not increase IL-17A production. B. Expression of IL-17A from peripheral blood of adults and umbilical cord blood. Peripheral blood samples from adults (healthy adult volunteers (n = 7), parturient women (n = 11) and umbilical cord blood (n = 11) were stimulated with WCA for 6 days after which IL-17A concentration was assayed by ELISA. IL-17A production was significantly greater in adults than cord blood (P<0.001 by Mann-Whitney U test).