%0 Journal Article %T The Patterns of Interferon-Gamma and Interleukin-10 Production as a Potential Immunological Biomarker for the Outcome of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection %J International Journal of Immunology %@ 2329-1753 %D 2017 %X Deficiencies in current tuberculosis (TB) immunodiagnostics pipeline demand new approaches to control TB. Because the balance in key pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines production could determine Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTb) infection outcome, this study aimed to determine the patterns of MTb-specific antigen-stimulated Interferon-gamma (IFN-y) and Interleukin-10 (IL-10) production in different clinical forms of MTb infection and to evaluate their concomitant changes during anti-TB treatment (ATT). Overall, 84 BCG-vaccinated HIV-negative adults, consisting of 25 Healthy Community Controls (HCC), 27 Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) cases, and a cohort of 32 Acute Pulmonary Tuberculosis (APTB) patients were investigated for IFN-y and IL-10 responses at enrollment (base-line) and during ATT at 2-month (ATT1) and 6-month (ATT2). At enrollment, groups didn¡¯t differ significantly in age, gender, or CD4+ T counts but differed in the other socio-demographics, and hematological parameters, p<0.05. Base-line Sandwich ELISA ¨C measured IFN-y responses were significantly higher in HCC (223.50¡À58.11pg/ml) compared with LTBI (128.82¡À41.81pg/ml) and APTB (47.82¡À22.05pg/ml), p<0.0001 in each case. During treatment, IFN-y levels increased significantly at ATT1 (125.37¡À16.09pg/ml) and ATT2 (203.35¡À23.24pg/ml), p<0.0001. Conversely, base-line IL-10 responses increased significantly in APTB (17.53¡À6.30pg/ml), compared with LTBI (10.71¡À2.39pg/ml) and HCC (7.49¡À2.02pg/ml), P<0.0001, but declined significantly at ATT1 (10.54¡À2.25pg/ml) and ATT2 (5.25¡À1.45pg/ml), P=<0.0001. Cytokines response combination ratio showed: ¡®High¡¯ HCC, ¡®Intermediate¡¯ LTBI, or ¡®Low¡¯ APTB ratio that increased during successful ATT; the two identified MDR-TB patients recorded fluctuating but constantly low ratio during ATT. These results demonstrate the immunocompetence of MTb-exposed adults, and that IFN-y and IL-10 cytokines cross-regulate, and strongly suggest a shift toward IFN-y-mediated pro-inflammatory host immune phenotype during effective control of MTb infection. The IFN-y/IL-10 response ratio is a novel potential immunological biomarker to assess if MTb infection is going to resolve, result in latency, progress to TB; or become drug-resistant. %K Adults %K Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection %K Immunodiagnostics %K Cytokines Production Ratio %K TB Control %U http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=115&doi=10.11648/j.iji.20170506.12