Antimycobacterial immuneresponses in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease of unknown origin. Pathogenetic involvement of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has frequently been discussed, however, studies still remain contradictory. We examined the interferon (IFN)-γ production by enzyme-linked-immunospot in response to purified protein derivate (PPD) and mycobacterial specific antigens early-secretory-target (ESAT)-6 and culture-filtrate-protein (CFP)-10 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and bronchoalveolar-lavage mononuclear cells (BALMC) of patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis, smear-negative tuberculosis and controls. Release of…