Machado P, Abrams J, Santos S, Brennan P, Barral A, Barral-Netto M
Serviço de Imunologia HUPES, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua João das Botas, s/n, 40. 110-040 SSA- Bahia, Brazil.
Eur J Dermatol. 1998 Mar;8(2):98-103.
The production of IFNgamma, IL-10, IL-13 and TNFalpha was determined using PBMC from 7 tuberculoid (TT) and 7 lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients, after stimulation with several mycobacterial antigens, in an attempt to characterize the cytokine responses to these antigens. The results showed that TT patients displayed higher IFNgamma levels than LL patients with the mycobacterial antigens tested, but no differences in IL-10 production were observed between the two groups. MLSC antigen was associated with the lowest IFNgamma production in TT and LL groups. Only BCG could be identified with stimulation of IFNgamma production in some LL patients. The mycobacterial antigens SP+, SP- and BCG were associated with higher TNFalpha production in patients and controls, suggesting that these antigens could be involved in immunopathological effects. Our findings showed that the antigens tested were associated with a heterogeneous cytokine production in leprosy patients. Further studies are required to establish if an individual antigen can be identified as inducing a protective immune response in leprosy.
使用来自7名结核样型（TT）麻风患者和7名瘤型麻风（LL）患者的外周血单核细胞（PBMC），在几种分枝杆菌抗原刺激后，测定了IFNγ、IL-10、IL-13和TNFα的产生情况，旨在表征对这些抗原的细胞因子反应。结果显示，在所测试的分枝杆菌抗原刺激下，TT患者的IFNγ水平高于LL患者，但两组间IL-10的产生未观察到差异。MLSC抗原与TT组和LL组中最低的IFNγ产生相关。仅在一些LL患者中，卡介苗（BCG）可刺激IFNγ产生。分枝杆菌抗原SP +、SP - 和BCG与患者及对照组中较高的TNFα产生相关，表明这些抗原可能参与免疫病理效应。我们的研究结果表明，所测试的抗原与麻风患者中细胞因子产生的异质性相关。需要进一步研究以确定是否能鉴定出一种单独的抗原可在麻风病中诱导保护性免疫反应。
