Role of Secretory leukocyte proteinase inhibitor (SLPI) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

NANCY TATEOSIAN; M. JULIETA COSTA; VIRGINIA PASQUINELLI; SONIA GÓMEZ; PAULO C. MAFFIA; VERÓNICA E. GARCÍA; H. EDUARDO CHULUYÁN

Rio de Janeiro

Congreso; 13th International Congress of Immunology; 2007

Secretory leukocyte proteinase inhibitor (SLPI), a protease inhibitor purified from different sources like lung secretions, displays multiple roles during inflammatory responses. For example, SLPI inhibits leucocytederived proteases and exerts antimicrobial activity. However, the role of SLPI during mycobacterial infection has not been reported. Thus, we investigated the function of SLPI against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). We then examinated whether MTB antigen could modulate SLPI levels secreted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). In MTB-stimulated PBMC SLPI levels decreased compared to nonstimulated cells, as measured by ELISA (0.175±0.13ng/ml vs 0.38± 0.15; p