Immunotherapy using IL-2 and GM-CSF is a potential treatment for multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

摘要

This study investigated the therapeutic effects of interleukin (IL)-2 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor ( GM-CSF ) co-administrated with antibacterial agents isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF) to treat a mouse model of tuberculosis (TB) infection. A drug-susceptible TB strain, H37Rv was used to infect mice and the effectiveness of IL-2 and GM-CSF was initially evaluated based on survival rate, bacterial counts in lungs and spleens and the pathological condition of the lungs. Next, the therapeutic effect of the immunotherapy regimen was assessed in multidrug-resistant strain OB35-infected mice. In the H37Rv infection model, IL-2 and GM-CSF monotherapies reduced bacterial numbers in the lungs by 0.82 ( P P P P P GM-CSF may be useful to treat multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).