Dynamic changes in pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine profiles and gamma interferon receptor signaling integrity correlate with tuberculosis disease activity and response to curative treatment.

Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and their signaling pathways play key roles in protection from and pathogenesis of mycobacterial infection, and their balance and dynamic changes may control or predict clinical outcome. Peripheral blood cells' capacity to produce proinflammatory (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha], interleukin-12/23p40 [IL-12/23p40], and gamma interferon [IFN-gamma]) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokines in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis or unrelated stimuli (lipopolysaccharide, phytohemagglutinin) was studied in 93 pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients and 127 healthy controls from Indonesia. Their cells' ability to respond to IFN-gamma was examined to investigate whether M.