Vaccination with Bacille-Calmette Guérin promotes mycobacterial control in guinea pig macrophages infected in vivo

Abstract

Tuberculosis pleurisy was induced by inoculation of virulent (H37Rv strain or Erdman strain) or attenuated (H37Ra strain) green-fluorescent protein-expressing Mycobacterium tuberculosis into guinea pigs that had or had not been vaccinated with Bacille-Calmette Guérin (BCG). Pleural fluid and cells were analyzed for phagosome-lysosome (P-L) fusion, on the basis of confocal microscopy, intracellular and extracellular bacterial survival, and production of cytokine mRNA. BCG vaccination increased fluid volume and cellular accumulation, significantly enhanced P-L fusion, and significantly decreased intracellular bacterial survival in pleural-effusion macrophages of the guinea pigs infected with the 2 virulent strains. Furthermore, significant increases in interferon-γ, transforming growth factor-β, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-12p40 cytokine mRNA were seen in the pleural cells of the BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs. © 2008 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.