Anergy in tuberculosis
Margolis, M.L.; Van Uitert, B.L.
Biomedicine and PharmacoTherapy 39(6): 292-298
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0753-3322 PMID: 4084661 Document Number: 267397
Anergy in tuberculosis is of considerable clinical and immunological interest. Although negative skin reactions may be secondary to improper tuberculin testing or to certain diseases, drugs, vaccinations and constitutional factors known to affect cell-mediated immunity, often no underlying explanation is apparent. Unexplained negative reactions occur with a highly variable frequency in a wide variety of tuberculous infections. Anergy in tuberculosis is usually generalized, is often accompanied by other immunologic abnormalities, and frequently disappears as the disease is treated. Most anergic patients do not differ substantially from reactive patients in clinical features or prognosis. The mechanism of anergy in tuberculosis is unknown, but leading hypotheses suggest that immunologic compartmentalization, suppressor cells, or serum inhibitors (perhaps of mycobacterial origin) may be involved.