Research Article

Expression Pattern of Transcription Factors and Intracellular Cytokines Reveals That Clinically Cured Tuberculosis Is Accompanied by an Increase in Mycobacterium-Specific Th1, Th2, and Th17 Cells

Figure 4

Ratios between different subtypes of Mycobacterium-specific T cells in patients with active tuberculosis, patients after treatment, and TST+ healthy donors. The ratios were calculated using the percentages of double positive cells (transcription factor and cytokine) in cultures stimulated with BCG antigen. (a) From left to right: Th1 (CD4+T-Bet+IFN-γ+)/Th2 (CD4+GATA-3+IL-4+), Th1/Th17 (CD4+RORγT+IL-17+), and Th17/Th2. (b) From left to right: Th1/CD4+CD25−FoxP3+, Th1/CD4+CD25+FoxP3+, Th1/CD4+FoxP3+, and Th1/CD4+FoxP3+. (c) From left to right: Th2/CD4+CD25−FoxP3+, Th2/CD4+CD25+FoxP3+, Th2/CD4+FoxP3+, and Th2/CD4+FoxP3+. (d) From left to right: Th17/CD4+CD25−FoxP3+, Th17/CD4+CD25+FoxP3+, Th17/CD4+FoxP3+, and Th17/CD4+FoxP3+. : Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s post hoc test. Horizontal lines represent the median, bars represent 25th–75th percentiles, and vertical lines represent 10th–90th percentiles.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)