title: Study of peripheral blood cell populations involved in the immune response of goats naturally infected with Mycobacterium caprae.
abstract: Tuberculosis in goats caused by Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium caprae has noteworthy sanitary and economic implications. Current diagnostic assays are based on cellular immunity and although they have demonstrated a high sensitivity, some animals remain undetected. In the present study, flow cytometry has been used to determine changes in CD4+, CD8+ and CD25+ T cell populations in peripheral blood from naturally infected goats. Proportion of lymphocytes producing PPD-specific interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) was calculated and an ELISA for detection of PPD-specific IFN-γ was performed to measure the cytokine in plasma. The infected goats showed percentages of CD4+ T cells between 27.31% and 47.23% and there were not significant differences (p=0.113) with the non-infected control goats although the mean percentage was lower in this group. Regarding CD8+ T cells, a higher percentage was observed in healthy goats compared to controls (p=0.081). The mean percentage of lymphocytes expressing CD25 without antigen stimulation (30.65±3.91) was higher in lesion and/or culture-positive animals than in the controls (21.84±1.21; p=0.053). The percentage of CD4+/IFN+ T cell population stimulated with bovine PPD was a reliable marker of infection, since the mean percentage in the infected goats was significantly higher than in the controls (p<0.05). Tuberculosis in goats caused by M. caprae induced changes in cellular populations similar to those described for M. bovis in cattle.
authors.affiliation: Centro VISAVET, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bezos
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Álvarez
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Lucía
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Juan
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Domínguez
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toraño
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mateos
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Domínguez
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aranaz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count / Q000662:veterinary; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006041:Goats / Q000276:immunology; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000276:immunology; D018655:Lymphocyte Count / Q000662:veterinary; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000276:immunology*; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit; D007371:Interferon-gamma