Immune Response to Nocardia brasiliensis Extracellular Antigens in Patients with Mycetoma

• Published in: Mycopathologia (1975) 2008-03, Vol.165 (3), p.127-134
• Main Authors: Castro-Matteotti, Bárbara, Vera-Cabrera, Lucio, Ocampo-Candiani, Jorge, Rendón, Adrián, Salinas-Carmona, Mario C, Welsh, Oliverio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Animals; Antigens; Antigens, Bacterial - immunology; Bacteria; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell growth; Cell Proliferation; Cells, Cultured; Eukaryotic Microbiology; Female; Humans; Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis; Interleukin-1alpha - biosynthesis; Interleukin-4 - biosynthesis; Leukocytes, Mononuclear; Life Sciences; Lymphocytes - immunology; Male; Medical Microbiology; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Microbial Ecology; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Mycetoma - immunology; Mycetoma - microbiology; Mycobacterium; Nocardia - immunology; Nocardia - isolation & purification; Nocardia brasiliensis; Nocardia Infections - immunology; Nocardia Infections - microbiology; Plant Sciences; Proteins; Spleen - immunology; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - complications
• ISSN: 0301-486X; 1573-0832
• DOI: 10.1007/s11046-008-9093-4

The ability of culture-filtrate proteins to induce a cellular immune response in infected mice and humans was investigated. A crude extract culture filtrate of Nocardia brasiliensis (CFA) and five semi-purified CFA fractions (P1, P2, P3, P4, P5) were used to stimulate BALB/c mice spleen-cell cultures. The animals were divided into three groups: the first group was infected with 1 x 10⁷ CFU of N. brasiliensis in the footpad, the second group was immunized with heat-killed bacteria, and the third was injected with sterile saline. IFN-γ, IL-1α, and IL-4 concentrations were determined in culture supernatants. Protein fractions eliciting IFN-γ production in mice, as well as the CFA, were used to stimulate IFN-γ production and in vitro cell proliferation assays with peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with actinomycetoma by N. brasiliensis, individuals with pulmonary tuberculosis, and healthy controls. In mice, CFA and three of the protein fractions (P3, P4 and P5) induced significant IFN-γ production in the infected group. In humans, only the CFA-induced IFN-γ production and cell proliferation in the group of patients with actinomycetoma. There was no stimulation in tuberculosis patients nor healthy controls. These results suggest that some culture-filtrate antigens are recognized by patients with active actinomycetoma and do not cross-react with M. tuberculosis antigens, being therefore potential candidates to develop a diagnostic test.