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Reduced natural killer cell activity in multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis
L T Ratcliffe1, C R Mackenzie, P T Lukey
1Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa.
Scandinavian Journal of Immunology. Supplement
|January 1, 1992
Abstract:
Cellular immune status in five patients with multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis was investigated and compared with five matched controls with non-resistant tuberculosis. A significant reduction in fresh natural killer (NK)-cell activity was found in the resistant group (P less than 0.005). There were no significant differences between the two groups in lymphocyte phenotype, proliferation or PPD-specific cytotoxicity. Reduced NK-cell function may play a role in the pathogenesis of multi-drug resistant pulmonary tuberculosis.