Immune responses in tuberculosis

The initial interaction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with phagocytes throu gh Toll-like receptors can affect induction of the adaptive response by inf lammatory cytokine production, as well as begin the process of bacterial co ntainment by induction of antimycobacterial functions. Advances in T cell r esearch in tuberculosis include identification of antigens recognized by CD 8(+) T cells in infected hosts, elucidation of antimycobacterial mechanisms of T cells and the discovery of CD8(+) T cells that recognize antigens pre sented by a variety of non-classical molecules.