Does sphingosine 1-phosphate play a protective role in the course of pulmonary tuberculosis?

• Published in: Clinical Immunology Vol. 121; no. 3; pp. 260 - 264
• Main Authors: Garg, Sanjay K., Santucci, Marilina B., Panitti, Miriam, Pucillo, Leo, Bocchino, Marialuisa, Okajima, Fumikazu, Bisen, Prakash S., Saltini, Cesare, Fraziano, Maurizio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01-12-2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Bronchoalveolar lavage; Cells, Cultured; Cricetinae; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Humans; Immunopathology; Immunotherapy; Lysophospholipids - metabolism; Lysophospholipids - pharmacology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Mycobacterium tuberculosis - drug effects; Sphingosine - analogs & derivatives; Sphingosine - metabolism; Sphingosine - pharmacology; Sphingosine 1-phosphate; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - metabolism; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - microbiology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - pathology; Tuberculosis; Bronchoalveolar lavage; Immunotherapy; Sphingosine 1-phosphate; Immunopathology; Lung disease; Respiratory disease; Pulmonary tuberculosis; Mycobacterial infection; Infection; Prevention; Immunology; Treatment; Bacteriosis
• ISSN: 1521-6616; 1521-7035; 1365-2567
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clim.2006.09.002

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) has recently been reported to induce antimycobacterial activity
in vitro and in a mouse model of
in vivo Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. However, its role in the course of pulmonary tuberculosis in humans is still not known. This study shows that S1P levels in airway surface fluid of tuberculosis (TB) patients are significantly less than those observed in non-TB control patients. Moreover, the
in vitro stimulation of bronchoalveolar lavage cells coming from TB patients with S1P significantly reduces intracellular growth of endogenous mycobacterial isolates. These results show that, in the course of pulmonary TB, airway epithelial fluid-associated S1P may play a protective role in the containment of intracellular mycobacterial growth and that its decrease may represent a novel pathogenic mechanism through which
M. tuberculosis favors its replication.