Association between tuberculin skin test reactivity, the memory CD4 cell subset, and circulating FoxP3-expressing cells in HIV-infected persons.

Background: Lack of reactivity to the tuberculin skin test (TST) is widely observed in individuals with advanced human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection.

Methods: Biopsy specimens from the TST reaction site and from skin not infiltrated with purified protein derivative were obtained from 15 HIV-1-infected and 23 uninfected persons who did not have active tuberculosis and who were from a community in which the incidence of tuberculosis was very high. Histologic sections (size, 8 mum) were immunohistochemically stained for CD4, CD8, CD28, CD45RA, CD45RO, CD62L, CD1a, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR, granulysin, interferon-gamma, and FoxP3 and were analyzed by single-cell in situ digital imaging.