Authors: Bozza, V. V.¹; D'Attilio, L.¹; Mahuad, C. V.¹; Giri, A. A.²; del Rey, A.³; Besedovsky, H.³; Bottasso, O.¹; Bay, M. L.¹

Source: Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, Volume 66, Number 1, July 2007 , pp. 97-103(7)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

We have investigated the relationship between cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels and the immune response to mycobacterial antigens in peripheral venous blood, from a male population of active tuberculosis patients and age-matched healthy controls of the same sex (HCo). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured for 36 or 96 h with whole sonicated Mycobacterium tuberculosis (WSA) for measurement of proliferation, interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in culture supernatants. Comparisons on the in vitro mycobacterial-driven immune responses demonstrated that TB patients had a higher IL-10 production, a decreased lymphoproliferation and a trend to reduced IFN-γ synthesis, in relation to HCo. Active disease was also characterized by increases in the plasma levels of glucocorticoids (GC) and reduced concentrations of DHEA which resulted in a higher cortisol/DHEA ratio respect the HCo group. Plasma DHEA levels were positively correlated with IFN-γ values. An inverse correlation was found between the cortisol/DHEA ratio and IFN-γ levels. Novel evidence is provided showing that the balance between cortisol and DHEA is partly responsible for the immune perturbations seen in TB patients.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3083.2007.01952.x

Affiliations: 1: Instituto de Inmunología, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario 2: Area de Virología, Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario (IBR), Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina 3: Institute für Normale und Pathologische Physiologie, Marburg, Germany

Publication date: 2007-07-01

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• In this Subject: Microbiology ,  Allergy & Immunology
• By this author: Bozza, V. V. ;  D'Attilio, L. ;  Mahuad, C. V. ;  Giri, A. A. ;  del Rey, A. ;  Besedovsky, H. ;  Bottasso, O. ;  Bay, M. L.

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