Antibodies in the protection against mycobacterial infections: what have we learned?

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite of the massive global use of BCG, there is a need for other TB vaccines. Newer animal models are needed to test candidate vaccine efficacy to protect animals against challenge with M. tuberculosis virulent strains in more realistic scenarios than currently done. Also, the elucidation of the importance of humoral immune defenses against intracellular pathogens constitutes a priority to improve the rational design of new vaccines. Our group has been actively testing the protective role of antibodies in different models of pulmonary TB infection through evaluation of bacterial loads and morphometric and histological changes in the lungs of infected mice. Results presented here suggest a protective role for antibodies and the humoral response against tuberculosis infection.