Mycobacterium tuberculosis induces apoptosis in gamma/delta T lymphocytes from patients with advanced clinical forms of active tuberculosis.

Antigens from inactivated Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra induce activation in a subpopulation of gamma/delta (gamma/delta) T lymphocytes in a manner that resembles that of superantigens from alpha/beta T cells. After culture in vitro with H37Ra proteins, gamma/delta T lymphocytes from patients with advanced clinical forms of active tuberculosis (ACF-TBC) display cytotoxic activity against homotypic target cells exposed to H37Ra. Cytotoxicity by gamma/delta T lymphocytes from ACF-TBC patients occurs in a range similar to that observed in healthy subjects. Following activation, H37Ra-stimulated gamma/delta T lymphocytes from healthy subjects did proliferate in the presence of exogenous recombinant human interleukin 2. However, under the same conditions, gamma/delta T lymphocytes from ACF-TBC patients not only did not proliferate but died by apoptosis. These results suggest that in gamma/delta T lymphocytes from patients with ACF-TBC, antigens from M. tuberculosis may induce cell activation that leads to apoptotic cell death.