RESUMO
Resistant C57BL/6 mice infected in the lungs with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and then therapeutically vaccinated with Mycobacterium leprae-derived hsp65 DNA develop severe granulomatous pneumonia and tissue damage. Analysis of cells accumulating in the lungs of these animals revealed substantial increases in T cells secreting tumor necrosis factor alpha and CD8 cells staining positive for granzyme B. Stimulation of lung cells ex vivo revealed very high levels of interleukin-10, some of which was produced by B-1 B cells. This was probably an anti-inflammatory response, since lung pathology was dramatically worsened in B-cell gene-disrupted mice.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Bactérias/genética , Chaperoninas/genética , DNA/uso terapêutico , Tuberculose Pulmonar/tratamento farmacológico , Animais , Chaperonina 60 , Feminino , Imuno-Histoquímica , Pulmão/imunologia , Pulmão/microbiologia , Pulmão/patologia , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Mycobacterium leprae/genética , Mycobacterium leprae/imunologia , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/imunologia , Tuberculose Pulmonar/imunologia , Tuberculose Pulmonar/microbiologiaRESUMO
The use of DNA constructs encoding mycobacterial proteins is a promising new approach to vaccination against tuberculosis. A DNA vaccine encoding the hsp60 molecule of Mycobacterium leprae has previously been shown to protect against intravenous infection of mice with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in both the prophylactic and immunotherapeutic modes. It is shown here, however, that this vaccine was not effective in a more realistic aerosol infection model or in a model of latent tuberculosis in the lungs. Moreover, when given in an immunotherapeutic model the immunized mice developed classical Koch reactions characterized by multifocal discrete regions of cellular necrosis throughout the lung granulomas. Similar and equally severe reactions were seen in mice given a vaccine with DNA coding for the Ag85 antigen of M. tuberculosis. This previously unanticipated safety problem indicates that DNA vaccines should be used with caution in individuals who may have already been exposed to tuberculosis.