Assessment of CD27 expression on T-cells as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool for patients with smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: There is a global focus on illness diagnosis in smear-negative and latent tuberculosis infectious populations (SN-TB and LTBI). CD27 has been suggested to play a direct role in active TB. Little is known about smear-negative individuals. Here, we tried to investigate whether it has a role in smear-negative populations. The expression of CD27 and MTB-specific CD27 in CD4+ T cells ("CD27-CD4+" and "CD27-IFN-γ+CD4+") was evaluated in MTB-unexposed controls (HC), TB contacts (TB-C) and SN-TB individuals by flow cytometry. The sensitivity, specificity and AUC (area under curve) of "CD27-IFN-γ+CD4+" cells to distinguish SN-TBs from HCs and TB-Cs were determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The clinical index was selected from the clinical laboratory and evaluated for correlation with "CD27-IFN-γ+CD4+" cells by Spearman statistical analysis. RESULTS: We observed that the percentages of "CD27-IFN-γ+CD4+" cells were significantly increased in the SN-TB group compared with the HC and TB-C groups (AUC was 0.88, sensitivity was 82.14%, specificity was 80.00%, and P < 0.0001). The percentage of "CD27-IFN-γ+CD4+" cells was negatively correlated with WBC (white blood cell count) (r = - 0.3019, P = 0.0182) and positively correlated with IgE (immunoglobulin E) (r = 0.2805, P = 0.0362). Furthermore, "CD27-IFN-γ+CD4+" cells were significantly decreased, especially in the > 50 years group, after clinical treatment. CONCLUSION: The present results demonstrated that the percentage of "CD27-IFN-γ+CD4+" cells might be a conceivable molecular indicator in the diagnosis of SN-TB and was influenced by its outcome of therapy.

[Biological dose assessment by the analyses of chromosomal aberrations and CB micronuclei in two victims accidentally exposed to 60Co gamma-rays].

Biological doses were estimated by using the yields of dicentrics plus rings(dic+r) and cytokinesis-block micronuclei (CBMN) for two victims of the accident radiation occurred on Mar 6,2000 in the City of Xuchang(victim A), and Jun 26,2000 in the City of Kaifeng(victim B), Henan Province,respectively. The results indicated that the equvalent whole body doses based on the standard dose-response curves established by the analyses of dic+r and CBMN were estimated to be 1.44Gy and 1.43Gy(victim A), and 0.15Gy and 0.22Gy(victim B). These doses were very consistent with the mean doses calculated from physical measurement and conformable to the clinical dianosis. The dic+r aberrations of victim A did not accord with Poisson distribution. The analyses of chromosomal aberrations and CBMN are an extremely reliable method in biological dosimetry. The radiation which victim A was exposed to was heterogeneous.