IMMUNE-RESPONSE TO RECOMBINANT MYCOBACTERIAL PROTEINS IN PATIENTS WITH TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION AND DISEASE

The capacity of four Mycobacterium tuberculosis recombinant antigens t o elicit proliferation and cytokine production by human T cells was ev aluated. Proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) to all antigens were greater in healthy tuberculin reactors th an in pulmonary tuberculosis patients, and proliferative responses of pleural fluid cells were greater than those of PBMC from patients with tuberculous pleuritis. The proliferative responses to the four recomb inant antigens were similar in all patient groups, and there was no se lective unresponsiveness to any antigen in pulmonary tuberculosis pati ents. The 38-kDa antigen induced less interferon-gamma than did the 10 -, 30-, and 65-kDa antigens, and all four antigens induced similar amo unts of interleukin-10. These results suggest that none of the four re combinant antigens are immunodominant, and that the 10-, 30-, and 65-k Da antigens are similar in their capacity to induce a potentially prot ective Th1-like response.