Abstract
Tuberculous pleural effusion is characterized by a T helper type 1 (Th1) profile, but an excessive Th1 response may also cause tissue damage that might be controlled by regulatory mechanisms. In the current study we investigated the role of regulatory T cells (Treg ) in the modulation of Th1 responses in patients with tuberculous (TB) pleurisy. Using flow cytometry we evaluated the proportion of Treg (CD4(+) CD25(high) forkhead box protein 3(+) ), interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-10 expression and CD107 degranulation in peripheral blood (PB) and pleural fluid (PF) from patients with TB pleurisy. We demonstrated that the proportion of CD4(+) CD25(+) , CD4(+) CD25(high) FoxP3(+) and CD8(+) CD25(+) cells were increased in PF compared to PB samples. Mycobacterium tuberculosis stimulation increased the proportion of CD4(+) CD25(low/neg) IL-10(+) in PB and CD4(+) CD25(low/neg) IFN-γ(+) in PF; meanwhile, CD25(high) mainly expressed IL-10 in both compartments. A high proportion of CD4(+) CD107(+) and CD8(+) CD107(+) cells was observed in PF. Treg depletion enhanced the in-vitro M. tuberculosis-induced IFN-γ and CD4(+) and CD8(+) degranulation responses and decreased CD4(+) IL-10(+) cells in PF. Our results demonstrated that in TB pleurisy Treg cells effectively inhibit not only IFN-γ expression but also the ability of CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells to degranulate in response to M. tuberculosis.