A novel immunogenic antigen, the 6-kDa early secretory antigenic target (ESAT-6), from short-term culture filtrates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was purified by hydrophobic interaction chromatography and anion-exchange chromatography by use of fast protein liquid chromatography. The antigen focused at two different pIs of 4.0 and 4.5 during isoelectric focusing, and each of these components se...

BACKGROUND Options for intervention against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection are limited by the diagnostic tools available. The Purified Protein Derivative (PPD) skin test is thought to be non-specific, especially in tropical settings. We compared the PPD skin test with an ELISPOT test in The Gambia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Household contacts over six months of age of sputum smear ...

BACKGROUND The detection of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a major component of tuberculosis (TB) control strategies. In addition to the tuberculosis skin test (TST), novel blood tests, based on in vitro release of IFN-gamma in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens ESAT-6 and CFP-10 (IGRAs), are used for TB diagnosis. However, neither IGRAs nor the TST can separate a...

Identification of M. tuberculosis ESAT-6 proteins has enhanced research for developing new specific and reliable in vitro diagnostic tests for pulmonary tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic potential of ESAT-6 synthetic overlapping peptides mixture (Pepmix) for diagnosis of pulmonary M. tuberculosis infection in Egypt. IFN-gammaand IL-17 production was assessed in wh...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of recombinant Mycobacterium tuberculosis ESAT-6 protein for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). MATERIAL AND METHODS A phase II trial was performed in 158 patients with pulmonary TB (145 initially-treated and 13 re-treated) and 133 healthy subjects. Skin testing was carried out by injecting purified protein derivative (PP...

CD4 T cells are critical for resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, but how effective T cell responses are maintained during chronic infection is not well understood. To address this question we examined the CD4 T cell response to a peptide from ESAT-6 during tuberculosis infection in the mouse. The ESAT-6(1-20)/IA(b)-specific CD4 T cell response in the lungs, mediastinal lymph nod...

results almost 8% of the personnel showed positive tst (over 10 mm) reaction while 29% of them had considerable t - cell reactivity against ppd in elispot assays. however, the esat - 6 reactivity was found only in one case of hcws. no correlation was found between the patterns of the reactions and the age or the duration of the employment or previous vaccination history of the participants. the...

Bioneedles are small hollow sugar based needles administered with a simple compressed air device. In the present study we investigate how incorporation of a subunit vaccine based on TB vaccine hybrid Ag85B-ESAT-6 adjuvated with CAF01 into Bioneedles affects its immunogenicity as well as its ability to protect against TB in a mouse model. The CMI response measured by IFN-γ and antigen specific C...

BACKGROUND Previously we have shown that Ag85B-TB10.4 is a highly efficient vaccine against tuberculosis when delivered in a Th1 inducing adjuvant based on cationic liposomes. Another Th1 inducing adjuvant, which has shown a very promising profile in both preclinical and clinical trials, is IC31. In this study, we examined the potential of Ag85B-TB10.4 delivered in the adjuvant IC31 for the abi...