Journal of infection and chemotherapy : official journal of the Japan Society of Chemotherapy
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J. Infect. Chemother. · Feb 2005
Kinetic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific cytokine production by PBMC in adults after BCG vaccination.
Although bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has been used worldwide as the only vaccine for tuberculosis, its protective efficacy in human adults is controversial. To investigate human immunological responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis after BCG vaccination, we analyzed IFN-gamma and IL-10 production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from health-care workers five times throughout the year after BCG vaccination. Of 449 health-care workers, 36 (8.0%) were negative by the tuberculin skin test, and of these, 20 were vaccinated with BCG. ⋯ The IFN-gamma level of the vaccinated group at week 0 was significantly lower than that of the controls. The mean IL-10 production in response to PPD reached a peak at week 2, and then declined to its lowest point at week 8. These results indicate that the BCG vaccine can induce a type I cytokine response to M. tuberculosis in most tuberculin skin-test-negative adults at week 8, suggesting the immunological efficacy of vaccination.