Impairment in TNF, IL-1β, and IL-17 production upon stimulation with mycobacterial antigens may contribute to the increased susceptibility to M. tuberculosis infection observed in HTLV-1 infected individuals.
It is concluded that 4-1BB has the potential to be used as a biomarker to identify MAIT cells with enhanced IFN-γ and IL-17 responses that might be associated with tuberculosis infection control.
Interleukin 17 (IL-17) is induced during the early stages of tuberculosis infection, playing an important role in the defense against mycobacterial infection.
By analyzing the cellular responses to mycobacterial antigens in patients who had latent tuberculosis with or without filarial infection, we were able to demonstrate that filarial infection coincident with M. tuberculosis infection significantly diminishes M. tuberculosis-specific Th1 (interleukin [IL]-12 and IFN-gamma) and type 17 T helper (Th17; IL-23 and IL-17) responses related to increased expression of cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen (CTLA)-4 and programmed death (PD)-1.