Mycobacterial T cell responses in HIV-infected patients with advanced immunosuppression

Abdulrahman S Hammond1, Samuel J McConkey, Philip C Hill

  • 1Bacterial and Viral Diseases Programme, Medical Research Council Laboratories, Fajara, Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa. ahammond@mrc.gm

Antimycobacterial T cell reactivity at different stages of HIV infection was investigated. Subjects were screened with purified protein derivative (PPD), early secreted antigenic target (ESAT)-6, and culture filtrate protein (CFP)-10 antigens for interferon (IFN)-gamma-producing effector T cell responses by direct ex vivo enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay. The proportion of responders to PPD tuberculin decreased with a reduction in CD4 T cell count, whereas the proportion of responder to ESAT-6 and CFP-10 did not. The main sources of IFN-gamma secretion were CD4 cells, and the relative responses to ESAT-6 and CFP-10 significantly increased in HIV-infected patients with decreasing CD4 cell count. This may reflect early signs of reactivation, reinfection, or a restricted, inefficient immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

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