Presence of cytokines in biological preparations.

In vaccines produced in eukaryote cells as well as in commercial medical preparations of leukocyte interferon a number of cytokines such as IL-1beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha have been detected. Among the vaccines examined in this study the highest level of IL-1beta was demonstrated in inactivated hepatitis A vaccine prepared in the green monkey kidney cell line 4647, that of IL-6 in inactivated rabies vaccine produced in Syrian hamster kidney (SHK) cell culture, and that of TNF-alpha in live poliomyelitis vaccine manufactured in VERO cells. A spontaneous and poliovirus-induced capacity of cell cultures to produce cytokines was detected. The level of cytokines produced depend on the kind of cell culture and the type of virus, a more pronounced effect being generated by types 1 and 2 poliovirus as compared with type 3. The presence of highly active cytokines in virus vaccines and interferon preparations points to the necessity of investigating the influence of the presence of cytokines on the biological activity of these preparations and to the advisability of standardizing and controlling the cytokine content.