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Cytokines play an important role in granuloma formation, but the extent that cytokine profiles are similar in different granulomatous diseases and whether differences in the histopathologic features of the granulomatous response results from differences in cytokine production have not been evaluated. To investigate these questions, we used RT-PCR to quantify the expression of mRNAs coding for 16 cytokines in granulomatous lymph nodes from patients with tuberculosis and sarcoidosis and from control tissues, and we sought correlations between the level of expression of these cytokines and the histopathologic features of the granulomas. Expression of mRNAs coding for a number of cytokines (IL-1beta, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, granulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF, IL-12 (p40), and lymphotoxin-beta) was increased in tuberculous and sarcoid granulomas compared with that of control tissues. All sarcoid …