Dynamics of structural transformations of BCG granulomas and expression of TNF-α and granulocyte-macrophage CSF by macrophages in vitro.

The spleens were isolated from mice at different times after BCG infection and BCG granulomas were explanted and cultured in vitro. Cell migration, chemoattractant potential, and expression of TNF-α and granulocyte-macrophage CSF (GM-CSF) by macrophages migrated from granulomas were evaluated in granulomas. The number of macrophages able to migrate; migrating out of granulomas, expressing TNF-α and GM-CSF decreased with increasing the time after infection. The number of cells in "dissociating" granulomas correlates with the number of macrophages containing live BCG mycobacteria in the cytoplasm.