%0 Journal Article %@ 0009-9104 %A Das, G %A Vohra, H %A Saha, B %A Agrewala, J N %A Mishra, G C %D 1999 %F open:797 %I Wiley %J Clinical and Experimental Immunology %K apoptosis, tuberculosis, Th1 cells, Fas, Bcl-2 %N 2 %P 324-328 %T Apoptosis of Th1-like cells in experimental tuberculosis (TB) %U http://crdd.osdd.net/open/797/ %V 115 %X Th1 cell-induced anti-mycobacterial immunity is lost during a progressive Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in a susceptible host. This study was designed to test the mechanism of the loss of anti-mycobacterial cell-mediated immune response. We demonstrate that M. tuberculosis infection results in increased Fas expression and decreased Bcl-2 expression in CD4+ T cells. When CD4+ T cells are stimulated in vitro, they show increased apoptosis and decreased production of IL-2 and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) but not of IL-4. These changes may result in selective apoptosis of Th1-like cells, leading to the loss of cell-mediated immune response against M. tuberculosis. %Z Copyright of this article belongs to Wiley.