title: Elevated levels of serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.
abstract: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was originally described as a T-cell-derived cytokine that inhibits the random migration of macrophages and promotes the delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction. MIF plays an important role in the regulation of the Th1/Th2 balance in inflammatory response. This study investigated serum levels of circulating MIF in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The levels of MIF in sera were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 34 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (16 males and 18 females) and 30 healthy controls (15 males and 15 females). The mean levels of circulating MIF values were significantly higher in those with pulmonary tuberculosis (19.84 +/- 11.27 ng/ml; P < 0.0001) than in the healthy controls (4.38 +/- 1.34 ng/ml). Circulating MIF values significantly correlated with circulating interferon-gamma values (r = 0.537, P < 0.0001). Thus, MIF may play an important role in immune responses to human infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Third Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan. gyamada@sapmed.ac.jp
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Noriharu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shijubo
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takagi-Takahashi
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nishihira
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mizue
authors.forename: Kokichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Shosaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D008263:Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D008263:Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors; D007371:Interferon-gamma