This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by McMurray, D N Articles by Parr, R L Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by McMurray, D N Articles by Parr, R L

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infect Immun. 1989 September; 57(9): 2606-2611

Dietary protein deficiency and Mycobacterium bovis BCG affect interleukin-2 activity in experimental pulmonary tuberculosis.

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843.

ABSTRACT

Inbred strain 2 guinea pigs were vaccinated with Mycobacterium bovis BCG or were left unvaccinated. They were maintained for 6 weeks on defined, isocaloric diets containing either 30% (control animals) or 10% (animals receiving low protein) ovalbumin as the sole protein source. Animals were challenged by the respiratory route with a low dose of virulent M. tuberculosis H37Rv and killed 4 weeks later. Protein-malnourished animals were not protected by previous vaccination with BCG. Lymphocytes isolated from various tissues were tested in vitro for proliferative responses to mitogen (concanavalin A) and antigen (purified protein derivative [PPD]), production of interleukin-2 (IL-2), and response to exogenous recombinant IL-2 (rIL-2). Protein-malnourished guinea pigs responded only weakly to PPD skin tests, and their blood and lymph node lymphocytes exhibited impaired proliferation when cultured with PPD in vitro. IL-2 levels were consistently low in cultures of stimulated blood and spleen lymphocytes from protein-deprived animals. BCG vaccination of nutritionally normal guinea pigs, on the other hand, induced significantly more IL-2 production by PPD- and concanavalin A-stimulated lymphocytes. The addition of exogenous mouse rIL-2 (40 and 80 U/ml) in vitro to PPD-stimulated blood and lymph node cells from nonvaccinated, protein-deprived guinea pigs resulted in no improvement of the proliferative response. Previous vaccination of malnourished guinea pigs did not consistently enhance the response of PPD-stimulated lymphocytes to added rIL-2. Dietary protein deficiency and BCG vaccination appear to modulate antigen-driven cellular immunity in animals with tuberculosis by altering the production of, and the response to, IL-2 by PPD-stimulated lymphocytes.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Kesavan, A. K., Mendez, S. E., Hatem, C. L., Lopez-Molina, J., Aird, K., Pitt, M. L. M., Dannenberg, A. M. Jr, Manabe, Y. C. (2005). Effects of Dexamethasone and Transient Malnutrition on Rabbits Infected with Aerosolized Mycobacterium tuberculosis CDC1551. Infect. Immun. 73: 7056-7060 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Jeevan, A., Yoshimura, T., Lee, K. E., McMurray, D. N. (2003). Differential Expression of Gamma Interferon mRNA Induced by Attenuated and Virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Guinea Pig Cells after Mycobacterium bovis BCG Vaccination. Infect. Immun. 71: 354-364 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Jeevan, A., Yoshimura, T., Foster, G., McMurray, D. N. (2002). Effect of Mycobacterium bovis BCG Vaccination on Interleukin-1{beta} and RANTES mRNA Expression in Guinea Pig Cells Exposed to Attenuated and Virulent Mycobacteria. Infect. Immun. 70: 1245-1253 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Dai, G., McMurray, D. N. (1998). Altered Cytokine Production and Impaired Antimycobacterial Immunity in Protein-Malnourished Guinea Pigs. Infect. Immun. 66: 3562-3568 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mainali, E. S., McMurray, D. N. (1998). Protein Deficiency Induces Alterations in the Distribution of T-Cell Subsets in Experimental Pulmonary Tuberculosis. Infect. Immun. 66: 927-931 [Abstract] [Full Text]