Published ahead of print on February 5, 2003, doi:10.1164/rccm.200209-1113OC
© 2003 American Thoracic Society High Plasma Osteopontin Level and Its Relationship with Interleukin-12mediated Type 1 T Helper Cell Response in TuberculosisFirst Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa; Nagasaki Prefecture Tarami Hospital; Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Nagasaki; Division of Molecular Immunology, Research Section of Molecular Pathogenesis, Institute for Genetic Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo; Immuno-Biological Laboratories Co., Ltd., Gunma; National Okinawa Hospital, Ginowan; and Second Department of Internal Medicine, Oita Medical College, Oita, Japan Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Dr. Kazuyoshi Kawakami, M.D., Ph.D., First Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, 207 Uehara, Nishihara, Okinawa 9030215, Japan. E-mail: kawakami{at}med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
Osteopontin (OPN, also known as Eta-1), a noncollagenous matrix protein produced by macrophages and T lymphocytes, is expressed in granulomatous lesions caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. In the present study, we compared plasma concentrations of OPN in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis with those of healthy control subjects and patients with sarcoidosis, another disease associated with granuloma formation. Plasma OPN levels were significantly higher in patients with tuberculosis (n = 48) than in control subjects (n = 34) and patients with sarcoidosis (n = 20). OPN levels correlated well with severity of pulmonary tuberculosis, as indicated by the size of lung lesions on chest X-ray films. Furthermore, chemotherapy resulted in a significant fall in plasma OPN levels. In patients with tuberculosis, plasma OPN concentrations correlated significantly with those of interleukin (IL)-12. In vitro experiments showed that OPN production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells infected with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus CalmetteGuérin preceded the synthesis of IL-12 and interferon-
Key Words: osteopontin interleukin-12 tuberculosis sarcoidosis Mycobacterium bovis bacillus CalmetteGuérin This article has been cited by other articles:
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