Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Specific T Cell Functional, Memory, and Activation Profiles in QuantiFERON-Reverters Are Consistent With Controlled Infection

Frontiers in Immunology

Jason R. Andrews¹  Francesca Little²  Tessa Lloyd²  Morten Ruhwald³  Virginie Rozot⁴  Cheleka A. M. Mpande⁴  Boitumelo Mosito⁴  Mark Hatherill⁴  Nicole Bilek⁴  Constance Schreuder⁴  Elisa Nemes⁴  Thomas J. Scriba⁴  Timothy D. Reid⁴  Pia Steigler⁶ 

[1] Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States;Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Foundation of Innovative New Diagnostics, Geneva, Switzerland;South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark;Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research (CIDRI) in Africa, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Division of Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;

关键词: QuantiFERON reversion;    memory T cell;    donor unrestricted T cells;    innate immune response;    Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2021.712480

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Reversion of immune sensitization tests for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection, such as interferon-gamma release assays or tuberculin skin test, has been reported in multiple studies. We hypothesized that QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT) reversion is associated with a decline of M.tb-specific functional T cell responses, and a distinct pattern of T cell and innate responses compared to persistent QFT+ and QFT- individuals. We compared groups of healthy adolescents (n=~30 each), defined by four, 6-monthly QFT tests: reverters (QFT+/+/-/-), non-converters (QFT-/-/-/-) and persistent positives (QFT+/+/+/+). We stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells with M.tb antigens (M.tb lysate; CFP-10/ESAT-6 and EspC/EspF/Rv2348 peptide pools) and measured M.tb-specific adaptive T cell memory, activation, and functional profiles; as well as functional innate (monocytes, natural killer cells), donor-unrestricted T cells (DURT: γδ T cells, mucosal-associated invariant T and natural killer T-like cells) and B cells by flow cytometry. Projection to latent space discriminant analysis was applied to determine features that best distinguished between QFT reverters, non-converters and persistent positives. No longitudinal changes in immune responses to M.tb were observed upon QFT reversion. M.tb-specific Th1 responses detected in reverters were of intermediate magnitude, higher than responses in QFT non-converters and lower than responses in persistent positives. About one third of reverters had a robust response to CFP-10/ESAT-6. Among those with measurable responses, lower proportions of TSCM (CD45RA+CCR7+CD27+) and early differentiated (CD45RA-) IFN-γ-TNF+IL-2- M.tb lysate-specific CD4+ cells were observed in reverters compared with non-converters. Conversely, higher proportions of early differentiated and lower proportions of effector (CD45RA-CCR7-) CFP10/ESAT6-specific Th1 cells were observed in reverters compared to persistent-positives. No differences in M.tb-specific innate, DURT or B cell functional responses were observed between the groups. Statistical modelling misclassified the majority of reverters as non-converters more frequently than they were correctly classified as reverters or misclassified as persistent positives. These findings suggest that QFT reversion occurs in a heterogeneous group of individuals with low M.tb-specific T cell responses. In some individuals QFT reversion may result from assay variability, while in others the magnitude and differentiation status of M.tb-specific Th1 cells are consistent with well-controlled M.tb infection.

【 授权许可】

Unknown