Abstract

QUIROGA, María F.; MARTINEZ, Gustavo J.; PASQUINELLI, Virginia  and  GARCIA, Verónica E.. The SLAM-associated protein (SAP) regulates IFN-g expression in leprosy. Medicina (B. Aires) [online]. 2004, vol.64, n.5, pp.436-438. ISSN 0025-7680.

Tuberculoid leprosy patients locally produce Th1 cytokines, while lepromatous patients produce Th2 cytokines. Signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM) and the SLAM-associated protein (SAP) participate in the differentiation process that leads to the production of specific patterns of cytokines by activated T cells. To investigate the SLAM/SAP pathway in M. leprae infection, we determined the expression of SAP, IFN-g and SLAM RNA messenger in leprosy patients. We found a direct correlation of SLAM expression with IFN-g expression, whereas the expression of SAP was inversely correlated with the expression of both SLAM and IFN-g. Therefore, our data indicate that SAP might interfere with Th1 cytokine responses while SLAM expression may contribute to Th1 responses in leprosy. This study further suggests that the SLAM/SAP pathway might be a focal point for therapeutic modulation of T cell cytokine responses in diseases characterized by dysfunctional Th2 responses.

Keywords : Th1; SAP; SLAM; IFN-g; Co-stimulation; intracellular infection.

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