Journal
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 177, Issue 8, Pages 5647-5651Publisher
AMER ASSOC IMMUNOLOGISTS
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.177.8.5647
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Funding
- NIAID NIH HHS [AI 054361, AI 065653, AI 22616] Funding Source: Medline
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Mounting evidence points to CD8(+) T cells playing an important role in protective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The only available vaccine against tuberculosis, bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG), has traditionally been viewed not to induce these cells optimally. In this study, we show that vaccination of human newborns with BCG does indeed induce a specific CD8(+) T cell response. These cells degranulated or secreted IFN-gamma, but not both, when infant blood was incubated with BCG. This stimulation also resulted in proliferation and up-regulation of cytotoxic molecules. Overall, the specific CD8(+) T cell response was quantitatively smaller than the BCG-induced CD4(+) T cell response. Incubation of whole blood with M. tuberculosis also caused CD8(+) T cell IFN-gamma expression. We conclude that BCG induces a robust CD8(+) T cell response, which may contribute to vaccination-induced protection against tuberculosis.
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