Functional activity of regulatory t celis in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and negative mantoux test
The subpopulation composition of peripheral blood regulatory T cells (Treg) and their functional activity (the level of production of the cytokines IL-10 and TGF-p with immunosuppressive activity) were studied in vitro in patients with different clinical forms of pulmonary tuberculosis depending on their response to the subcutaneous administration of tuberculin (Mantoux test). The assumption that
Treg with the immunophenotypes CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ , CD4+CD25"Foxp3+ and their produced cytokines IL-10 and TGF-p play а 1еading role in the development of suppression in pulmonary tuberculosis was justified. No matter what the Mantoux test, the cytokine mediated suppression of а ТЫ response in infiltrative and disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis is admittedly determined by the hypersecretion of IL-10 and TGF-p, respectively. In fibrocavernous pulmonary tuberculosis, the simultaneous increase in the basal and BCG-induced production of IL-10 and TGF-p in vitro characterizes the activation of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg lymphocytes. At the same time, in the patients with tuberculin anergy, the increase in the blood levels of CD4+CD25"Foxp3+ T cells and in the basal production of TGF-p (in infiltrative and disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis) is more significant than that in those with positive Mantoux test.