Glucocorticoids are widely used in the therapy of inflammatory, autoimmune, and @entity56 . As the end-effectors of the @entity2339 , endogenous glucocorticoids also play an important role in suppressing innate and cellular immune responses. Previous studies have indicated that glucocorticoids inhibit @entity1198 and enhance Th2 cytokine secretion. IL-12 promotes @entity1198 cell-mediated immunity, while @entity3646 stimulates Th2 humoral-mediated immunity. Here, we examined the regulatory effect of glucocorticoids on key elements of IL-12 and @entity3646 signaling. We first investigated the effect of @entity619 on IL-12-inducible genes and showed that @entity619 inhibited IL-12-induced IFN-gamma secretion and IFN regulatory factor-1 expression in both NK and T cells. This occurred even though the level of expression of IL-12 receptors and IL-12-induced Janus kinase phosphorylation remained unaltered. However, @entity619 markedly inhibited IL-12-induced phosphorylation of @entity7116 without altering its expression. This was specific, as @entity3646 -induced @entity8850 phosphorylation was not affected, and mediated by the glucocorticoid receptor, as it was antagonized by the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist @entity3927 . Moreover, transfection experiments showed that @entity619 reduced responsiveness to IL-12 through the inhibition of @entity7116 -dependent IFN regulatory factor-1 promoter activity. We conclude that blocking IL-12-induced @entity7116 phosphorylation, without altering @entity3646 -induced @entity8850 phosphorylation, appears to be a new suppressive action of glucocorticoids on the @entity1198 cellular immune response and may help explain the glucocorticoid-induced shift toward the Th2 humoral immune response.

Inhibition of @entity1198 immune response by glucocorticoids: XXXX selectively inhibits IL-12-induced @entity7116 phosphorylation in T lymphocytes.

@entity8850 :: ('6778', 'Gene') :: ['Stat6'] @entity1198 :: ('51497', 'Gene') :: ['Th1'] @entity619 :: ('MESH:D003907', 'Chemical') :: ['dexamethasone'] @entity2339 :: ('MESH:D007029', 'Disease') :: ['hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis'] @entity56 :: ('MESH:D004342', 'Disease') :: ['allergic diseases'] @entity7116 :: ('6775', 'Gene') :: ['Stat4'] @entity3646 :: ('3565', 'Gene') :: ['IL-4'] @entity3927 :: ('MESH:D015735', 'Chemical') :: ['RU486']
@entity619 :: (MESH:D003907,Chemical) :: ['dexamethasone']
