Increased IL-17 expression is associated with pathology in a bovine model of tuberculosis.

BLANCO FC; BIANCO MV; MEIKLE V; GARBACCIO S; VAGNONI L; FORRELLAD M; KLEPP L; CATALDI A; BIGI F

Tuberculosis (Edinb)

CHURCHILL LIVINGSTONE

Año: 2011 vol. 91 p. 57 - 63

1472-9792

The identification of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) biomarkers in specific stages of the disease will contributeto a better understanding of the immunopathology associated with tuberculosis and to improve thedisease diagnosis and prognosis. The aim of this study was to understand the changing profile of theimmune responses during the course of infection and to identify biomarkers associated with pathology.Here we describe the immune response developed in experimentally infected cattle with field Mycobacteriumbovis strains. Blood samples were taken from each animal at different time points after M. bovisintratracheal infection and lymphocyte subset activation and cytokine mRNA expression were determinedfrom peripheral blood mononuclear cells in response to purified protein derivative (PPDB). Wefound that CD4 and CD8 activation during the early stages of infection, together with IL-17 geneexpression, were positively associated with pathology. The results of this study provide evidences of therole of IL-17 in the immunopathology of tuberculosis and support the use of IL-17 as a potentialbiomarker with predictive value of prognosis in bTB.