PLoS One

RationaleBiomarkers associated with response to therapy in tuberculosis could have broad clinical utility. We postulated that the frequency of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) specific CD8+ T cells, by virtue of detecting intracellular infection, could be a surrogate marker of response to therapy and would decrease during effective antituberculosis treatment.Materials and MethodsWe performed a prospective cohort study, enrolling between June 2008 and August 2010, of HIV-uninfected Ugandan adults (n\ue2\u20ac\u160=\ue2\u20ac\u16050) with acid-fast bacillus smear-positive, culture confirmed pulmonary TB at the onset of antituberculosis treatment and the Mtb specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses to ESAT-6 and CFP-10 were measured by IFN-\uce\ub3 ELISPOT at enrollment, week 8 and 24.ResultsThere was a significant difference in the Mtb specific CD8+ T response, but not the CD4+ T cell response, over 24 weeks of antituberculosis treatment (p