Evidence that changes in antimicrobial peptides during tuberculosis are related to disease severity, clinical presentation, specific therapy and levels of immune-endocrine mediators

BONGIOVANNI BETTINA; DIAZ ARIANA; BÉRTOLA DIEGO; BOTTASO OSCAR; D'ATTILIO LUCIANO; SANTUCCI NATALIA; RIVAS SANTIAGO BRUNO; MARIN LUEVANO SARA; FERNANDEZ ROCIO DEL VALLE; BAY, MARÍA LUISA

CYTOKINE.

ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019 vol. 12

1043-4666

Given the role of host defense peptides (HDPs) in the defensiveresponse against mycobacteria, we analyzed the circulating levels of LL37, β-defensin-2 and -3 in newly diagnosed patients with pulmonary (PTB)or pleural tuberculosis (PLTB) in whom measurements of pleural fluidswere also performed. Severe PTB patients displayed higher circulatingamounts of β-defensin-3, statistically different from controls, furtherdecreasing upon antimycobacterial treatment. LL-37 concentrationsappeared within the normal range at diagnosis, but tended to increaseduring treatment, becoming statistically upon its completion in moderatecases. PLTB patients revealed decreased levels of β-defensin-2 inpresence of increased amounts of β-defensin-3 and LL-37; in their plasmaor pleural fluids. Considering the immune-endocrine dysregulation oftuberculosis, we also performed correlation analysis detecting positiveassociations between levels of cortisol, IL-6 and β-defensin-3 in plasmafrom untreated severe patients as did their dehydroepiandrosterone andLL-37 values. Increased presence of β-defensins, may represent an attemptto improve defensive mechanisms; which also take part in the inflammatoryreaction accompanying TB, reinforced by the association with immuneendocrine mediators. The divergent profile of PLTB patients, decreased βdefensin-2 but increased β-defensin-3 and LL-37 levels, suggests adifferential role of these HDPs in a situation characterized for itsbetter protective response.