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Infection and Immunity, November 1999, p. 5747-5754, Vol. 67, No. 11
Laboratory of Microbiology and Immunology of
Infection, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, University of
Porto, Porto, Portugal,1 and Department
of Tuberculosis Immunology, Statens Seruminstitut, Copenhagen,
Denmark2
Received 9 April 1999/Returned for modification 31 May
1999/Accepted 26 August 1999
We examined the role of cytokines in the development of gamma
interferon (IFN-
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-12 Participate in
Induction of a Type 1 Protective T-Cell Response during Vaccination
with a Tuberculosis Subunit Vaccine
)-secreting protective T cells following
immunization with a culture filtrate subunit vaccine against
Mycobacterium tuberculosis containing the adjuvant
dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (DDA). Depletion of either
interleukin-6 (IL-6) or IL-12 with specific neutralizing antibodies
during vaccination reduced the priming of T cells for antigen-specific
proliferation and IFN-
secretion. Such reduction was also observed
in IL-6 gene-disrupted mice as compared to wild-type animals. IL-6 was
found to play a role in the initial differentiation of Th1 cells but
not in their expansion. The defect found after IL-6 depletion or in
IL-6-knockout mice was compensated by the inclusion of recombinant
mouse IL-12 in the vaccine. The induction of protective immunity
against an intravenous or an aerosol challenge with live, virulent
M. tuberculosis was markedly reduced by neutralizing either
IL-6 or IL-12 during immunization with the vaccine. Likewise, the
effects of IL-6 neutralization were partially reversed by including
IL-12 in the vaccine. Our data point to an important role of IL-6 and
IL-12 in the generation of cell-mediated immunity to tuberculosis.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of
Microbiology and Immunology of Infection, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Rua do Campo Alegre 823, 4150-Porto, Portugal. Phone: 351.2.6074952. Fax: 351.2.6099157. E-mail:
rappelb{at}ibmc.up.pt.
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