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Decreased serum granulysin levels in childhood tuberculosis which reverse after therapy

Diana Di Liberto1, Simona Buccheri, Nadia Caccamo

  • 1Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Metodologie Biomediche, Università di Palermo, Corso Tukory 211, 90134 Palermo, Italy.

Tuberculosis (Edinburgh, Scotland)
|March 24, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Serum granulysin levels are lower in children with tuberculosis (TB) and normalize after treatment. Granulysin may serve as a biomarker for childhood TB activity and treatment response.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Granulysin is a key cytolytic protein produced by natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs).
  • Serum granulysin levels reflect the host's cellular immune status.
  • Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant global health challenge, particularly in children, necessitating reliable biomarkers for disease activity and treatment monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate serum granulysin levels in children with tuberculosis (TB).
  • To assess the correlation between granulysin levels and TB clinical parameters.
  • To evaluate the utility of granulysin as a biomarker for TB disease activity and response to chemotherapy.

Main Methods:

  • Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was employed to quantify serum granulysin levels.
  • The study included 72 children diagnosed with various clinical forms of TB and 150 healthy control children.
  • Granulysin levels were measured before and four months after the completion of TB chemotherapy.

Main Results:

  • Children with TB exhibited significantly lower serum granulysin levels compared to healthy controls before treatment.
  • The lowest granulysin levels were observed in TB patients who were tuberculin skin test (TST) negative.
  • No significant differences in granulysin levels were found based on TB clinical severity or form (pulmonary vs. extra-pulmonary).
  • After four months of chemotherapy, serum granulysin levels in treated children returned to levels comparable to controls.
  • Post-treatment sera from TB patients demonstrated enhanced in vitro mycobactericidal activity.

Conclusions:

  • Serum granulysin levels may serve as a valuable biomarker for assessing disease activity in childhood tuberculosis.
  • Granulysin levels show potential for monitoring treatment effectiveness and immune recovery following TB chemotherapy.
  • Further research is warranted to validate granulysin as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in pediatric TB.

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