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Intracellular expression of interleukin‐4 and interferon‐γ by a Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen‐stimulated CD4 + CD57 + T‐cell subpopulation with memory phenotype in tuberculosis patients
Author(s) -
JiménezMartínez Maria C.,
Linares Marisela,
Báez Renata,
Montaño Luis F.,
MartínezCairo Salvador,
Gorocica Patricia,
Chávez Raúl,
Zenteno Edgar,
Lascurain Ricardo
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.297
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1365-2567
pISSN - 0019-2805
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2004.01785.x
Subject(s) - mycobacterium tuberculosis , intracellular , tuberculosis , antigen , phenotype , interferon gamma , immunology , virology , biology , interferon , interleukin 2 , medicine , cytokine , gene , pathology , genetics
Summary In some chronic pathological conditions, antigen persistence activates and expands the CD4 + CD57 + T‐cell subset. The host immune response against tuberculosis infection is maintained through the continuous presence of antigen‐stimulated effector/memory helper T cells. To determine whether CD4 + CD57 + T cells were also expanded in human tuberculosis, we analysed (by flow cytometry) the phenotype of peripheral blood CD4 + T cells from 30 tuberculosis patients and 30 healthy controls. We observed a significant increase in the CD4 + CD57 + T‐cell subset in tuberculosis patients in comparison to healthy controls ( P < 0·001). Most CD4 + CD57 + T cells exhibited a CD28 − CD45RO + CD62L − phenotype, which is associated with memory cells. In vitro , a higher number of antigen‐stimulated CD4 + CD57 + T cells produced intracellular interferon‐γ and interleukin‐4 compared with antigen‐stimulated CD4 + CD57 − T cells ( P < 0·001). These findings suggest that the majority of CD4 + CD57 + T cells correspond to a phenotype of activated memory T cells.