Study on the roles of cytokines involved in mycobacterial infection.
The roles of various cytokines in early-phase mycobacterial infection were investigated utilizing murine tuberculosis models. Among them, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha are very important in protective immunity against mycobacterial infection. This finding is closely associated with human tuberculosis. It is reported that persons with IFN-gamma receptor 1 deficiency and patients with rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease are susceptible to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is expected that a novel immunotherapy and a diagnostic method of tuberculosis are developed by clarifying roles of various cytokines immunologically in early-phase mycobacterial infection.
Sugawara
Isamu
I
Department of Molecular Pathology, Research Institute of Tuberculosis, Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association, 3-1-24, Matsuyama, Kiyose-shi, Tokyo 204-8533, Japan. sugawara@jata.or.jp
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000502:physiology*; D008262:Macrophage Activation; D051379:Mice; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000502:physiology*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma