Down regulation of RANTES in pleural site is associated with inhibition of antigen specific response in tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis is the most common infectious reason for death and a major cause of pleural effusion globally. To understand the role of chemokines in trafficking of cells during TB pleurisy, we studied the responses to MTB, Ag85A in cells from pleural fluids and peripheral blood. Patients with TB pleural effusions, malignant effusions and asymptomatic healthy controls were enrolled.

IL-17 and IL-22 production in HIV+ individuals with latent and active tuberculosis.

Background: IL-17 and IL-22 cytokines play an important role in protective immune responses against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. Information on the production of these cytokines and the factors that regulate their production in the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) or active tuberculosis disease (ATB) is limited. In the current study, we compared the production of these two cytokines by PBMC of HIV-LTBI+ and HIV + LTBI+ individuals in response to Mtb antigens CFP-10 (culture filtrate protein) and ESAT-6 (Early Secretory Antigenic Target).