Product Development Cell, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, Delhi, India.
PLoS One. 2012;7(7):e39215. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039215. Epub 2012 Jul 26.
The 9-month-long chemotherapy of tuberculosis often results in poor compliance and emergence of drug-resistant strains. So, improved therapeutic strategy is urgently needed. Immunotherapy could be beneficial for the effective management of the disease. Previously we showed the protective efficacy of Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP) when given as prophylactic vaccine in animal models of tuberculosis.
We sought to investigate whether MIP can be used as an adjunct to the chemotherapy in guinea pig models of tuberculosis. Efficacy of MIP was evaluated when given subcutaneously or by aerosol.
MIP-therapy as an adjunct to the chemotherapy was found to be effective in accelerating bacterial killing and improving organ pathology. MIP-immunotherapy resulted in higher numbers of activated antigen-presenting cells and lymphocytes in the infected lungs and also modulated the granulomatous response. Early increase in protective Th1 immune response was observed in the immunotherapy group. Following subsequent doses of MIP, decrease in the inflammatory response and increase in the immunosuppressive response was observed, which resulted in the improvement of lung pathology.
MIP immunotherapy is a valuable adjunct to chemotherapy for tuberculosis. Aerosol route of immunotherapy can play a crucial role for inducing immediate local immune response in the lung.
长达 9 个月的结核病化疗往往导致患者顺应性差和耐药菌株的出现。因此，迫切需要改进治疗策略。免疫疗法可能有助于有效控制疾病。此前我们已经证实，分枝杆菌印度变种（MIP）作为预防性疫苗在结核病动物模型中具有保护作用。
我们试图研究 MIP 是否可以作为结核病豚鼠模型化疗的辅助手段。通过皮下或气溶胶途径给予 MIP 的疗效。
我们发现，MIP 治疗作为化疗的辅助手段，可以加速细菌清除并改善器官病理学。MIP 免疫治疗导致感染肺部的活化抗原呈递细胞和淋巴细胞数量增加，并调节了肉芽肿反应。在免疫治疗组中观察到早期保护性 Th1 免疫应答增加。随后给予 MIP 后，炎症反应减少，免疫抑制反应增加，从而改善了肺部病理学。
MIP 免疫疗法是结核病化疗的有效辅助手段。免疫疗法的气溶胶途径可以在肺部立即诱导局部免疫反应中发挥关键作用。
