Hi all, A recurring problem in evaluating TH1/2 status is low levels of detectable IL-4 in stimulated culture sups (ELIZA), many researchers measure IL-5 for this reason, which is more readily detectable. I wondered if the same applied to intracellular IL-5 detected by FACS. Certainly, our own limited experience, and published papers, seem to indicate low intracellular IL-4. A pubmed search for i.c. IL-5 and FACS yielded only 1 paper that looked at TH2-associated cytokines in schistosome granuloma, here IL-4 was shown by FACS, IL-5 was not detectable by FACs (although it was histochemically) and this was attributed to "technical difficulty detecting i.c. Il-5 by flow...most likely due to in-vitro stimulation conditions" in the discussion. I wonder if others have tried this with similar negative results? Has anyone found higher IL-5 than IL-4 by FACS? I would appreciate any comments or references. Stan
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