title: Preliminary results in the immunodiagnosis of tuberculosis in children based on T cell responses to ESAT-6 and PPD antigens.
abstract: The aim of this work was to study the difference in interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) production by T lymphocytes after early secretory antigen target 6 (ESAT-6) or purified protein derivate (PPD) stimulation in whole blood culture supernatants from children with suspected tuberculosis (TB) disease (n = 21), latent TB infection (n = 16) and negative controls (NC) (n = 22) from an endemic area in Brazil. The concentration of IFN-gamma (pg/ml) was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and the differences in the IFN-gamma levels for each group were compared and evaluated using an unpaired Student's t-test; p values < 0.05 were considered significant. Measurement of IFN-gamma levels after ESAT-6 stimulation raised the possibility of early diagnosis in the latent TB group (p = 0.0030). Nevertheless, the same group showed similar responses to the NC group (p > 0.05) after PPD stimulation. The IFN-gamma assay using ESAT-6 as an antigenic stimulus has the potential to be used as a tool for the immunodiagnosis of early TB in children.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Imunologia, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães-Fiocruz, Recife, PE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Daniele S M
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Van-Lume
authors.forename: Joelma R de
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Wlademir G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Victor L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Marta M L
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Cabral
authors.forename: Joakim C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rego
authors.forename: Haiana C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Schindler
authors.forename: Frederico G C
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Abath
authors.forename: Silvia M L
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Montenegro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C093276:ESAT-6 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; D007371:Interferon-gamma