Tuberculosis patients are characterized by a low-IFN-γ/high-TNF-α response to methylated HBHA produced in M. smegmatis
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Updated: May 27, 2026

A 3D Human Lung Tissue Model for Functional Studies on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection
Published on: October 5, 2015
Paola Molicotti1, Alessandra Bua, Marina Cubeddu
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
Abstract:
Whole blood from Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected subjects was stimulated with heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA). Tuberculosis (TB) patients showed an HBHA-specific T-cell response characterized by low-IFN-γ/high-TNF-α secretion, while asymptomatic subjects with latent infection (LTBI) and TB patients under therapy showed a pattern with high IFN-γ/low TNF-α. These results underscore the usefulness of HBHA in helping to distinguish LTBI subjects versus TB patients.
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