Analysis of Toll-Like Receptors, iNOS and Cytokine Profiles in Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis during Anti-Tuberculosis Treatment
Figure 2
Gene expression and cell surface of TLR2 and TLR4.
mRNA expression of TLR2 (A) and TLR4 (B) and mean percentages of CD3+ (C) and CD14+ (D) cells expressing TLR2, co-expressing TLR2 and TLR4 and expressing TLR4 among PBMCs from control individuals (G1) and pulmonary tuberculosis patients (G2) during anti-tuberculosis treatment at M1 (up to one month of treatment), M2 (three months of treatment) and M3 (end of treatment). Gating strategies to distinguish between PBMC populations analyzed by flow cytometry. FSC-SSC profile was used to distinguish total lymphocytes and monocytes (E). T lymphocytes and monocytes were gated according to light scatter profile and the expression of CD3 (F) and CD14 (G), respectively. Representative histograms plots of TLR2 and TLR4 expression are shown in figures H–K, in which blue histograms represent isotype controls and red histograms indicate TLR-specific antibodies with the respective expression of TLR2+ and TLR4+ in monocytes (H, I) and T lymphocytes (J, K). The results are expressed as mean and standard deviation and are representative of three independent replicates. *p<0.05 compared with G1; #p<0.05 compared with M2 and M3; ○p<0.05 compared with M1 and M2; Δp<0.05 compared with M1.