β-glucan increases IFN-γ and IL-12 production of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with/without induction of mycobacterium tuberculosis wild-type/mutant DNA

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In tuberculosis infections, the immune system is weakened and cannot produce enough cytokines to against the infection. β-glucan is a potent immunomodulator that induces cytokine production in various bacterial infections. This study aimed to determine the effects of β-glucan on the production of interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-12 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) induced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA. METHODS: PBMCs were isolated from 11 healthy subjects. PBMCs were treated with/without 5 μg/mL β-glucan and M. tuberculosis rpoB wild-type or mutant DNA. The production of IFN-γ and IL-12 in the supernatant was performed with enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: β-glucan increased significantly (p < 0.05) IFN-γ of M. tuberculosis mutant DNA-induced PBMCs, M. tuberculosis wild-type DNA-induced PBMCs, and non-induced PBMCs. β-glucan also increased significantly (p < 0.05) IL-12 of M. tuberculosis mutant DNA-induced PBMCs, M. tuberculosis wild-type DNA-induced PBMCs, and non-induced PBMCs. There were not any significant difference between male and female groups for IL-12 and IFN-γ in all treatment groups (p > 0.05, ANOVA test). CONCLUSION: This in vitro study indicates that β-glucan increases the performance of PBMCs to produce IFN-γ and IL-12, with/without induction of M. tuberculosis wild-type/ mutant DNA.