IL-12 increases resistance of BALB/c mice to mycobacterium tuberculosis infection Journal Article


Authors: Flynn, J. L.; Goldstein, M. M.; Triebold, K. J.; Sypek, J.; Wolf, S.; Bloom, B. R.
Article Title: IL-12 increases resistance of BALB/c mice to mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
Abstract: IL-12, a cytokine produced by macrophages and B cells, has recently been found to exert pleiotropic effects on the immune system. When BALB/c mice, a strain highly susceptible to virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, were given IL-12 at the initiation of infection with M. tuberculosis, their mean survival time doubled from 58 to 112 days. IL-12-treated mice had diminished bacterial burdens, whereas treatment with exogenous IFN-gamma had no effect on survival or bacterial burden. IL-12 treatment also delayed lung pathology in BALB/c mice. In contrast with the findings in the BALB/c model, IL-12 did not increase survival of M. tuberculosis-infected gko mice, transgenic mice in which the IFN-gamma gene has been disrupted, indicating that IL-12 does not induce protection against tuberculosis in mice in the absence of IFN-gamma.
Keywords: lymphocytes; natural-killer-cells; bcg; interleukin-12; cryptococcus-neoformans; cd4+; interferon-gamma production; bovis; cell stimulatory factor; cytokine secretion; cd8+ t-cells
Journal Title: Journal of Immunology
Volume: 155
Issue: 5
ISSN: 0022-1767
Publisher: The American Association of Immunologists, Inc  
Date Published: 1995-09-01
Start Page: 2515
End Page: 2524
Language: English
ACCESSION: WOS:A1995RP74300024
PROVIDER: wos
PUBMED: 7650381
Notes: Article -- Source: Wos
Citation Impact