Objective: The study was carried out to understand the influence of IFN-γ, IL-12 and IL-10 cytokine production and expression in tuberculosis patients with diabetes mellitus (TBDM) and their household contacts (HHC).
Methodology: The study involved a total of 300 subjects, 50 in each category of TBDM, TBDM HHC, pulmonary tuberculosis patients (PTB), PTB HHC, DM and healthy controls (HC). TBDM, PTB and their HHC, 25 each were followed at different intervals to determine their immune responses in Ag85A stimulated culture supernatants by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). mRNA expression by TRIZOL method in 5 cases of each category and follow-up studies were performed.
Results: IFN-γ and IL-12 cytokine production markedly decreased and that of IL-10 increased after Ag85A M.tb stimulation, however anti TB treatment reconstituted the response in TBDM and PTB patients. The household contacts revealed cytokine gene expression similar to that of patients and two of them developed the disease during follow-up.
Conclusion: Cytokine responses of the patients retained after treatment highlighting the antigen importance, hence further studies with recombinant cytokines may help in coming up with a biomarker. Analogous immune responses of household contacts with the TBDM and PTB patients may assist in recognizing the high risk individuals.
Keywords: Antigen85A; Cytokine production; Fold change; Household contacts; Tuberculosis with diabetes mellitus.
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