remains a major health problem of global concern. The recent .... the Chest Diseases Hospital, Kuwait. ..... New York: ... 9 Coler RN, Skeiky YA, Vedvick T et al.
Clin Exp Immunol 2004; 138:139–144
Blackwell Science, LtdOxford, UKCEIClinical and Experimental Immunology0009-9104Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 20042004 1381 139144 Original Article T cell responses to newly defined recombinant antigens of M. tuberculosis R. Al-Attiyah et al.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2249.2004.02609.x
In vitro cellular immune responses to complex and newly defined recombinant antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis R. AL-ATTIYAH*, A. S. MUSTAFA*, A. T. ABAL†, A. S. M. EL-SHAMY**, W. DALEMANS‡ & Y. A. W. SKEIKY§¶ *Departments of Microbiology and †Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University and **Chest Diseases Hospital, Ministry of Health, Kuwait, ‡GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Rixensart, Belgium, and §Corixa Corporation, Seattle, Washington, USA
(Accepted for publication 28 July 2004)
SUMMARY The immunological diagnosis and development of new antituberculosis vaccines require the characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens inducing cell-mediated immune responses. In this study, we have tested peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from tuberculosis (TB) patients ( n = 43) and Bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG)-vaccinated healthy subjects ( n = 24) for in vitro cellular immune responses, as indicated by antigen-induced proliferation and interferon (IFN)- g secretion, in response to a panel of complex (culture filtrate and cell wall preparations) and single recombinant antigens (Mtb8·4, Mtb9·8, Mtb9·9, Mtb32A, Mtb39A, Mtb40, Mtb41 and Ag85B) of M. tuberculosis. The results of cellular responses showed that the majority (ranging from 70 to 98%) of TB patients and healthy donors responded to the complex antigens in antigen-induced proliferation and IFN- g secretion assays. However, when PBMC from the same groups of patients and healthy donors were tested with the recombinant antigens, TB patients showed strong recognition ( >50% responders) of Mtb9·8 and Mtb39A in proliferation assays (median SI = 6·2 and 6·4, respectively) and of Mtb9·8, Mtb39A, Mtb40 and Ag85B in IFN-g assays (median delta IFN-g = 15·5, 10·8, 7·8 and 8·1 U/ml, respectively). BCG-vaccinated healthy donors showed weak ( 5 U/ml) were secreted in response to Mtb9·8, Mtb9·9,
Antigen CF CW Mtb8·4 Mtb 9·8 Mtb 9·9 Mtb 32 A Mtb 39 A Mtb 40 Mtb 41 Ag85B
IFN-g U/ml
TNF-a pg/ml
IL-12 pg/ml
IL-10 pg/ml
35 (5–60) 34 (8–86)
