Changes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis specific antigen-stimulated CD27 - CD38 + IFN- γ + CD4 + T cells before and after anti-tuberculosis treatment

Abstract Background The aim of the study was to investigate whether the expression of CD27 − CD38 + in IFN-γ + CD4 + T cells stimulated by the specific antigen ESAT-6/CFP-10 could be a potential new therapeutic evaluation indicator for anti-tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Methods Newly diagnosed active pulmonary TB patients, latent TB infection (LTBI) and healthy controls were enrolled from January 2021 to December 2021. PTB patients were treated by standard anti-TB regimen 2HREZ/4HR. The difference of CD27 − CD38 + expression in IFN-γ + CD4 + T cells before treatment, 2 months after treatment, and 6 months after treatment were compared. Results The expression of CD27 − CD38 + decreased significantly after anti-TB treatment and was comparable with that in LTBI and healthy controls when the 6-month anti-TB treatment course was completed. The decline rate of CD27 − CD38 + between 6 months after treatment and base line was positively correlated with ESR (r = 0.766, P < 0.0001), C-reactive protein (r = 0.560, P = 0.003) and chest CT severity score (r = 0.632, P = 0.0005). The area under ROC curve of CD27 − CD38 + in distinguish PTB patients before and after treatment was 0.779. Conclusion The expression of CD27 − CD38 + in ESAT-6/CFP-10 stimulated IFN-γ + CD4 + T cells can well reflect the changes of the disease before and after anti-TB treatment, which is expected to be a potential new therapeutic evaluation index.