Th17 Inducing Vaccine Against Tuberculosis May Cause Autoimmunity and Inflammation Mediated Adverse Effects

Tuberculosis (TB) is a big global health problem and an effective vaccine for control of this disease is urgently required. In the recent past, a concept has emerged wherein it has been shown that a CD4 + Th1 cell stimulating anti TB vaccine can be more effective if it has CD4 + Th17 cell stimulating property as well. With such an anti TB vaccine, the Th1 mediated immunity can further become stronger due to supportive effect of immune response induced by Th17 cell. Since Th1 and Th17 cells are pro inflammatory in nature, a TB vaccine capable of stimulating both of these cells may result in generation of a cumulative stronger pro inflammatory immune response. This raises an apprehension that such an increased immune response may cause adverse effects in the form of autoimmunity and inflammation in the vulnerable vaccinated subjects. Therefore, extensive studies to understand the spectrum and magnitude of occurrence of such diseases must be carried out with Th1 and Th17 inducing anti TB vaccine (s). This might help in understanding their risk/ benefit ratio while employing such Th1-Th17 inducing vaccines for clinical practice.