Tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-10 in whole blood is associated with disease progression in pulmonary mulitdrug-resistant tuberculosis patients

Background: Cytokine production profiles may reflect the clinical pictures of patients with tuberculosis ( TB). Objective: We examined the relationship between cytokine levels and clinical parameters indicating the state of disease in active pulmonary TB patients. Methods: We measured interferon (IFN)-gamma, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-10 levels in whole blood after stimulation with culture filtrate protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 33 multi-drug resistant (MDR)-TB and 51 non-MDR-TB patients. Results: No significant difference was found in IFN-gamma production between non-MDR-TB and MDR-TB patients, but there was a marked reduction in TNF-alpha production in MDR-TB patients accompanied by a moderate increase in IL-10 levels. In contrast, the presence of cavity was associated with a significant increase in IFN-gamma, whereas no difference in TNF-alpha between the cavity and non- cavity group was observed. Those who have TB lesions in the left lung showed lower levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha and higher IL-10 levels than the patients with lesions on the right side. IFN-gamma levels were significantly increased in those with moderate or advanced lesions compared with patients with mild lesions. TNF-alpha and IL-10 levels did not change with disease severity. The number of M. tuberculosis bacilli in sputum was closely associated with TNF-alpha levels. The patient group with high value (+++) of sputum culture acid-fast bacilli produced significantly reduced levels of TNF-alpha compared with medium (++) and low (+) values. Conclusion: These findings suggest that IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha or IL-10 production patterns in whole blood are associated with disease progression in active pulmonary TB. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.