Latently and uninfected healthcare workers exposed to TB make protective antibodies against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

ABSTRACT: The role of Igs in natural protection against infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of TB, is controversial. Although passive immunization with mAbs generated against mycobacterial antigens has shown protective efficacy in murine models of infection, studies in B cell-depleted animals only showed modest phenotypes. We do not know if humans make protective antibody responses. Here, we investigated whether healthcare workers in a Beijing TB hospital-who, although exposed to suprainfectious doses of pathogenic Mtb, remain healthy-make antibody responses that are effective in protecting against infection by Mtb. We tested antibodies isolated from 48 healthcare workers and compared these with 12 patients with active TB. We found that antibodies from 7 of 48 h

SUBMITTER: Li H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5441709 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature