Immunoendocrine interaction in Tuberculosis: Plasma level of leptin and adiponectin

SANTUCCI, NATALIA; D'ATTILIO, LUCIANO; DÍDOLI, GRISELDA; BOGUE, CRISTINA; MARCHESINI, MARCELA; BAY, MARÍA LUISA; BOTTASSO, OSCAR

Rosario

Congreso; IV Annual meeting of SLAMTB; 2009

SLAM

Weight loss is a prominent sign of Tuberculosis (TB), but its underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Proinflammatory cytokines are prime candidates as causative agents of the metabolic changes that result in tuberculosis–associated wasting, however It is now evident that cytokine-hormone interactions play a role in host metabolism during infection. Adipose tissue is emerging as an important factor in the regulation of many pathological processes. Leptin and adiponectin, two hormones produced primarily by adipocytes, constitutes a link between immunity and nutrition. The first one reduces food intake, augments energy expenditure, redirects Th1 responses and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the other has metabolic and immunological opposite effects. As such, we have assessed 37 newly diagnosed patients with pulmonary TB (10 mild, 14 moderate, 13 severe), and 29 healthy controls –Hco- (all of them HIV negative with no major differences in age and sex distribution) for their plasma levels of leptin, Iadiponectin and BMI (weight/height2). Hco displayed higher levels of leptin TB patients (P<0.001). Comparison among TB patients showed a gradual decrease in leptin concentrations with increasing disease severity. A positive correlation between this hormone and BMI was observed in Hco, (P <0.05). In contrast, levels of adiponectin were found augmented in TB patients respect the Hco (P <0.05). This results suggest that leptin and adiponectin contribute to modulate de immune response from a Th1 to a Th2 profile as the TBC progress, which is consistent with previous findings.