PMID: 8976576Dec 1, 1996Paper

Host defense against nontuberculous mycobacterial infections

Seminars in Respiratory Infections
S M Holland

Abstract

Human contact with the nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is quite common, yet serious infections with these organisms were relatively infrequent until the advent of AIDS. Mycobacteria present an important window on the interaction of the innate (neutrophils, macrophages, NK cells) and acquired (T cells and B cells) immune systems. In their attempt to infect macrophages, the mycobacteria use their complex glycopeptidolipid cell wall to down-regulate macrophage responses. Once inside, mycobacteria are subject to the panoply of primary macrophage responses (e.g., vacuolar acidification, lytic enzymes). The infected macrophage produces cytokine signals (e.g., chemokines, interleukin [IL]-12] that recruit and stimulate lymphocytes from the innate (NK cell) and acquired (T and B cells) arms of the immune response to help kill the invading mycobacteria. Lymphocyte products that are central to the activation of macrophages to increased mycobacterial killing include tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon-gamma, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). The precise mechanisms by which these cytokines work remains unknown. Rare patients who have refractory disseminated NTM infection without HIV infection ...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Cancer Biology: Molecular Imaging

Molecular imaging enables noninvasive imaging of key molecules that are crucial to tumor biology. Discover the latest research in molecular imaging in cancer biology in this feed.