Increased frequency of CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3+ T regulatory cells in pulmonary tuberculosis patients undergoing specific treatment and its relationship with their immune-endocrine profile

Tuberculosis (tb) is a major health problem requiring an appropriate cell immune response (ir) to be controlled. since regulatory t cells (tregs) are relevant in ir regulation,we analyzed tregs variations throughout the course of tb treatment and its relationship with changes in immune-endocrine mediators dealing with disease immunopathology. the cohort was composed of 41 adult patients,20 of them completing treatment and follow-up. patients were bled at diagnosis (t0) and at 2 (t2),4 (t4),6 (t6),and 9 months following treatment initiation. twenty-four age-and sex-matched healthy controls (hco) were also included. tregs (flow cytometry) from tb patients were increased at t0 (versus hco p<0.05),showing even higher values at t2 (versus t0 p<0.01) and t4 (versus t0 p<0.001). while il-6,ifn-γ,tgf-β (elisa),and cortisol (electrochemiluminescence,eq) were augmented,dhea-s (eq) levels were diminished at t0 with respect to hco,with cytokines and cortisol returning to normal values at t9. tregs correlated positively with ifn-γ (r=0.868,p<0.05) at t2 and negatively at t4 (r=-0.795,p<0.05). lowered levels of proinflammatory cytokines together with an increased frequency of tregs of patients undergoing specific treatment might reflect a downmodulatory effect of these cells on the accompanying inflammation. © 2015 ariana diáz et al.