1. Evaluation of the Contribution of Major T Cell Subsets to IFN-γ Production in TB Infection by ELISPOT.
- Author
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Lugos, Moses D., Adetifa, Ifedayo M. O., Donkor, Simon, Hill, Philip C., Adegbola, Richard A., and Ota, Martin O. C.
- Subjects
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T cells , *TUBERCULOSIS , *IMMUNE response , *BIOMARKERS , *ANTIGENS , *INFECTION - Abstract
Interferon gamma remains a key effector molecule that is still widely used as the most informative biomarker for screening human immune responses against tuberculosis, particularly in ELISPOT assays. We investigated the participation of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes in the PBMC responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) specific antigens in 33 TB cases and 49 contacts. Responses to ESAT-6 were higher than CFP-10. There was no significant difference in responses to both Mtb antigens between cases and contacts. PBMCs response to ESAT-6 but not CFP-10 in cases was significantly reduced by depletion of CD4+ cells whereas CD8+ cell depletion had no impact. In conclusion, ESAT-6 is a more recognized antigen in this population, and CD4+ lymphocytes are the main participants in IFN-γ response by ELISPOT. Thus, a decline of CD4+ T lymphocytes below a critical level might affect the sensitivity of IFN-γ release assays for detecting Mtb infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2009
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