Journal
TUBERCULOSIS
Volume 88, Issue 5, Pages 430-436Publisher
CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE
DOI: 10.1016/j.tube.2008.05.001
Keywords
tuberculosis; guinea pig; pleuritis; TGF-beta
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [R01 At 15495]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The predominant extrapulmonary form of tuberculosis, which develops in 10% of diseased individuals, is pleurisy. The immune response mounted against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the pleural cavity is one that is sufficient for clearing the organism without therapeutic intervention. Thus, examining the role of immune constituents in this context will provide understanding of the vital role they play in controlling tuberculosis. In this study, experimental tuberculous pleurisy was induced in guinea pigs, and anti-TGF-beta was administered intrapleurally to the guinea pigs daily throughout the study (8 days). Neutralizing TGF-beta resulted in a significant reduction in the percentage of lymphocytes and CD8(+) cells present in the pleural. exudate, decreased proliferative responses of pleural cells to ConA and PPD, and decreased mRNA expression of IFN-gamma and CCL5 in pleural. effusion cells. Conversely, the percentage of neutrophils was significantly increased in anti-TGF-beta-treated guinea pigs, along with upregulated mRNA expression of CXCL8. The percentage of macrophages in the pleural exudate, TNF-alpha and IL-12p40 mRNA expression, and the histopathotogical. response were not significantly altered. While TGF-beta is generally thought of as an immunosuppressive cytokine, the results of this study demonstrate its importance in promoting an inflammatory response, and highlight its bipolar nature. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All. rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available