Abstract

Although it is well established that CD4(+) T cells are required for the protective immune response against tuberculosis (TB), there is some evidence that CD8(+) T cells are also involved in the host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. There is, however, a paucity of information on the pulmonary CD8(+) T-cell response during infection. We therefore have compared the changes in both CD8(+) and CD4(+) T cells following aerosol infection with M. tuberculosis. There was an observed delay between the peak of infection and the activated T-cell response in the lung. The kinetics of CD8(+) and CD4(+) T-cell responses in the lung were identical, both peaking at week 8, 4 weeks later than the peak of cellular response in draining lymph nodes. Similar changes in activation/memory phenotypes occurred on the pulmonary CD8(+) and CD4(+) T cells. Following in vitro restimulation, both subsets synthesized gamma interferon, a cytokine essential for controlling M. tuberculosis infection. Since lung CD8(+) T cells are actively expanded during aerosol M. tuberculosis infection, it is important that both CD8(+) and CD4(+) T cells be targeted in the design of future TB vaccines.