Increased cytokines response in patients with tuberculosis complicated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• Published in: PloS one 2013-04, Vol.8 (4), p.e62385-e62385
• Main Authors: Tang, Shenjie, Cui, Haiyan, Yao, Lan, Hao, Xiaohui, Shen, Yun, Fan, Lin, Sun, Hua, Zhang, Zhanjun, Huang, Jian An
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Care and treatment; CD4 antigen; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; CD4-CD8 Ratio; CD8 antigen; Cell-mediated immunity; Chronic obstructive lung disease; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Cytokines; Cytokines - blood; Cytokines - immunology; Cytometry; Disease susceptibility; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Female; Flow cytometry; Forced Expiratory Volume; Humans; Immune response; Immunity; Interferon; Interleukin 6; Lung diseases; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Male; Medicine; Middle Aged; Obstructive lung disease; Patients; Peripheral blood; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - blood; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - complications; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - immunology; Receptors, Cytokine - metabolism; Risk Factors; Serum levels; T cells; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - blood; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - complications; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - immunology; Tumor necrosis factor; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; γ-Interferon
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062385

To explore the change and its significance of cytokines in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with COPD. The immune function of 152 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis with COPD was detected to compare with 150 cases of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 157 cases of patients with COPD and 50 cases of healthy volunteers who were in the hospital during the same period. T lymphocyte cell population in peripheral blood was detected by flow cytometry. The serum levels of sIL-2R, IL-6, IFN-γ, TNF-α were measured using ELISA. The percentage of CD4+ T cells in TB patients with or without COPD and COPD patients without TB was significantly lower than that in control group. The percentage of CD4+ T cells in patients with TB and COPD was significantly lower than that in the non-COPD TB patients. The percentage of CD8+ T cells was higher in the TB patients group than that in control group. The CD4+/CD8+ ratio in the TB patients group was significantly lower than that in control group. The concentrations of sIL-2R, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ in TB patients with or without COPD and COPD patients without TB were significantly higher than those in control group. In addition, sIL-2R, IL-6, TNF-α concentrations in the patients with TB and COPD were higher than those in the non-COPD TB patients. The concentrations of sIL-2R, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ in COPD patients with TB were significantly higher than those in COPD patients without TB. There was a significant negative correlation between serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and FEV1 (%, predicted) in COPD without TB group. The patients with pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with COPD were impaired in cellular immunity, and its extent of immune impairment is more serious than those of the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and the patients with COPD.