Ex Vivo Characterization of Early Secretory Antigenic Target 6–Specific T Cells at Sites of Active Disease in Pleural Tuberculosis

• Published in: Clinical infectious diseases Vol. 40; no. 1; pp. 184 - 187
• Main Authors: Wilkinson, Katalin A., Wilkinson, Robert J., Pathan, Ansar, Ewer, Katie, Prakash, Manyu, Klenerman, Paul, Maskell, Nick, Davies, Robert, Pasvol, Geoffrey, Lalvani, Ajit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01-01-2005; University of Chicago Press; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adult; Amino acids; Antigens; Antigens, Bacterial - immunology; Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte - immunology; Ascitic Fluid; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the respiratory system; Bacterial Proteins; Biological and medical sciences; Biopsy; Blood; Brief Reports; Cells; Female; Hospitals; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Interferon-gamma - metabolism; Lymphocyte Activation; Male; Medical diagnosis; Medical sciences; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Patients; Pleural diseases; Pleural Effusion; Pleural tuberculosis; Pneumology; Respiratory system : syndromes and miscellaneous diseases; Standard deviation; T cell receptors; T lymphocytes; T-Lymphocyte Subsets; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Pleural - diagnosis; Tuberculosis, Pleural - immunology; Human; Respiratory disease; Pleural tuberculosis; Check; Pleural effusion; Standards; Blood; Recruitment; Prevention; Characterization; In vivo; Blood cell; Ex vivo; Immunological investigation; T-Lymphocyte; Pleurisy; Pleural disease; Early; Target cell; Diagnosis; Gamma interferon
• ISSN: 1058-4838; 1537-6591
• DOI: 10.1086/426139

Presence of early secretory antigenic target-6 (ESAT-6)-specific, interferon-γ-secreting T cells in blood accurately marks tuberculosis infection. In tuberculous pleural effusions from 10 patients with tuberculosis, these cells were concentrated a mean of 15-fold (standard deviation, ±6-fold), relative to their level in peripheral blood (P = .014), and displayed rapid effector function. Such cells were absent in 8 control patients with nontuberculous pleural disease. The recruitment of ESAT-6-specific T cells to inflamed tuberculous tissue demonstrates their function in vivo and suggests a novel way to diagnose tuberculous pleuritis.