Enhanced tuberculosis control via leveraging dendritic cell-mediated Th1 responses in preventive and immunotherapeutic vaccine strategies

INTRODUCTION: Insufficient vaccine efficacy of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and long, expensive tuberculosis (TB) treatments highlight the need for better TB control measures. METHODS: This study evaluated whether the adoptive transfer of dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines pulsed with culture filtrate antigens (CFA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) could enhance BCG efficacy and support anti-TB drug therapy. RESULTS: T cell responses. In latent TB models, mice were protected from Mtb reactivation in both drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant TB models. CONCLUSIONS: DC-based prophylactic and immunotherapeutic vaccine strategies enhance protective immunity during BCG vaccination and chemotherapy, offering new insights into TB control strategies.