Serum Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-Α) Levels after Anti-Tuberculous Therapy

The monocyte/macrophage-derived cytokine, Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-α) plays a central role in effective granulomatous immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections in humans. The present study was conducted to document changes in the serum TNF-α level of patients after varying durations of anti-tuberculous therapy as compared to normal healthy controls. A comparative study was conducted at Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad from January to June 2009 by selecting 64 patients of pulmonary tuberculosis undergoing standard anti-tuberculous therapy of varying durations; seventeen normal healthy individuals acted as controls. Along with other clinical and laboratory indices of disease, the serum TNF-α level was measured from patients by ELISA and compared to controls. The mean serum TNF-α levels of patients were significantly decreased as compared to controls (p<0.001); moreover, serum TNF-α levels continued to decline with increasing duration of therapy. In Conclusion Serum TNF-α level of patients undergoing anti-tuberculous therapy should be monitored to prevent significant decreases from normal levels in order to prevent immunosuppression and enhanced risk of opportunistic infections.