Effect of use of bone marrow cells in therapy for experimental tuberculosis

: The authors studied the efficiency of use of bone marrow cells in the treatment of experimental tuberculosis. Bone marrow cell transplantation to H37Rv tuberculosis-infected H37Rv mice was shown to prolong the life span in the animals as compared to untreated animals. Examination of humoral immunity indicated that administration of allogenic bone marrow cells resulted in the nonspecific polyisotypic stimulation of antituberculosis antibodies, which is essential in producing the protective humoral background. A more significant generation of IgG2a antibodies than that of IgG1 antibodies was also found in therapy with bone marrow cells, which pointed to the fact that there was a Th1 response that is obviously protective in tuberculosis. The high level of IgG2a antibodies correlated with the high specific cellular immune response estimated by the delayed hypersensitivity reaction.