Assessment of Mycobacterium bovis Deleted in p27-p55 Virulence Operon as Candidate Vaccine against Tuberculosis in Animal Models
Figure 3
Response of M. bovis-infected cattle to PPDB. (a) Percentages of the activated lymphocyte cell subsets CD4+ of PBMCs stimulated with PPDB from animals inoculated with MbΔp27-p55 (, white square) or NCTC 10772 (, black triangle) at 0, 15, and 90 days after infection. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon matched pair test for cells with and without PPDB stimulation (*statistically significant ). The means SEM are indicated. (b) Relative cytokine gene expression. Gene expression was measured in PBMCs from animals infected with either MbΔp27-p55 (, gray bars) or NCTC 10772 (, dark gray bars) stimulated with PPDB at 90 dpi. Relative gene expression was calculated using the 2-ΔΔCt method with E correction, using pol II and gadph mRNA expression as reference genes and the preimmune condition as the calibrator. Data were analyzed using a two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test (*). The bars indicate the average ratios of infected animals/uninfected animals SEM. (c) IFN- release in response to M. bovis antigens PPDB in blood from animals inoculated with MbΔp27-p55 (gray squares), WT (black circles) at different time points (0, 30, 90, and 120 dpi). Results are expressed as ΔO.D. (OD450 PPDB − OD450 PBS). Significance was determined by Mann-Whitney test (**statistically significant ).
