Cytokine Gene Activation and Modified Responsiveness to Interleukin-2 in the Blood of Tuberculosis Patients

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Abstract
Selected parameters of cellular immunity relating to cytokine gene activation and responsiveness to interleukin-2 (IL-2) were analyzed in 27 patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis and no human immunodeficiency virus type I infection. Cytokine mRNAs were not expressed by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of normal controls. In PBMC of tuberculosis patients, messages for IL-I, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α were uniformly expressed, whereas PBMC of only 5 of 18 patients expressed IL-6. PBMC of 7 patients (all of those with systemic symptoms) expressed interferon-γ mRNA and none expressed IL-2 mRNA. Most patients' cells demonstrated IL-4 mRNA. Limiting dilution analysis of IL-2-responsive cells in PBMC revealed that tuberculosis patients had IO-fold fewer IL-2-responsive cells than did controls.

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