Evaluation of Gamma Interferon Immune Response Elicited by the Newly Constructed PstS-1(285-374): CFP10 Fusion Protein To Detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

The PstS1 antigen is highly immunogenic, principally when combined with CFP10 during both latent and active TB infection. In the present study, a selected pstS1 gene fragment was cloned, fused with CFP10, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The product [PstS-1(285-374): CFP10] was compared to the recombinant fused RD1 (region of deletion 1) protein (ESAT-6: CFP10) in detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in 108 recent contacts of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) cases, considering a positive tuberculin skin test (TST) to be the baseline. The release of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) in 22-h whole-blood and 5-day lymphocyte stimulation assays primed with each antigen was determined. All contacts were clinically followed for up to 1 year, and 87% of the tuberculin skin test-positive (TSTpositive) patients accepted preventative treatment. Concerning the IFN-gamma response to PstS-1(285-374): CFP10 in the 22-h and 5-day assays, a slight increase in contact-TSTpositive detection was observed (23/54 and 26/54) compared to the level seen with the RD1 protein (18/54 and 24/54) whereas in the TSTnegative group, similarly lower numbers (<= 5/48) of responders were achieved for both antigens, except for RD1 in the 5-day assay (8/48). By combining the IFN-gamma responders to both antigens in the 5-day assays, slightly higher increases in positivity were found in the TSTpositive (32/54) and TSTnegative (10/48) groups. Two of 12 untreated TSTpositive contacts progressed to active TB and were concordantly positive in all assays, except for one contact who lacked positivity in the RD1 5-day assay. We demonstrated for the first time that PstS-1(285-374): CFP10 slightly increased contact positivity and detection of active disease progression, suggesting its potential application as a TB infection marker.