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Infect Immun, March 1998, p. 927-931, Vol. 66, No. 3
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Protein Deficiency Induces Alterations in the Distribution of T-Cell Subsets in Experimental Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Elsie S. Mainali and David N. McMurray^*

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, College Station, Texas 77843-1114

Received 15 September 1997/Returned for modification 27 October 1997/Accepted 23 December 1997

Previous research has suggested that dietary protein deficiency alters resistance to experimental pulmonary tuberculosis, in part, by affecting the distribution and trafficking of antigen-reactive T cells. In this study, guinea pigs were maintained on either a protein-deficient (10% ovalbumin) or control (30% ovalbumin) diet and infected 4 to 6 weeks later with a low dose of virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv by the respiratory route. Monoclonal antibodies directed against the CD4 or CD8 markers on guinea pig lymphocytes were used in a flow cytofluorometric assay to determine the proportion of each subset in the peripheral circulation, spleen, and bronchotracheal lymph nodes at 4 weeks after infection. In uninfected guinea pigs, only the spleen exhibited an effect of diet on T-cell distribution, with small but consistent reductions in the proportions of both CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes. However, following infection, protein deficiency exerted a profound effect on T-cell distribution. Malnourished, tuberculous guinea pigs harbored only 20 and 60% of the T cells (as a proportion of total lymphoid cells) found in the spleen and blood, respectively, of their well-nourished counterparts. Normal relative proportions of CD4 and CD8 cells were observed, however. In striking contrast, the bronchotracheal lymph nodes of protein-deprived guinea pigs with tuberculosis contained more than twice the numbers of T cells of control guinea pigs, and the normal CD4-to-CD8 ratio was reversed. Peripheral T-cell function, as measured by the delayed hypersensitivity skin test to tuberculin, and antigen-induced lymphoproliferation in vitro were markedly suppressed in protein-malnourished animals. Conversely, purified protein derivative-induced (but not concanavalin A-induced) proliferation was significantly enhanced in cultures of lymph node cells from protein-deprived tuberculous animals. Taken together, these results suggest that immunological abnormalities and loss of antimycobacterial resistance in the lungs of protein-deficient guinea pigs may be explained, in part, by sequestration of antigen-reactive T cells in the lymph nodes draining the site of infection.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Reynolds Medical Building, Room 463, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, College Station, TX 77843-1114. Phone: (409) 845-1367. Fax: (409) 845-3479. E-mail: dmcmurray{at}tamu.edu.

Present address: Department of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.

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