Spectrum of immune response abnormalities in different clinical forms of tuberculosis.

In an attempt to explain the reasons for the development of different clinical forms of tuberculosis in different persons, their immunologic status was compared to their clinical patterns. The spectrum of immunologic abnormalities correlated with the clinical forms. Also, an inverse relationship between cell-mediated and humoral immune responses was observed. Immunologic abnormalities reverted to normal concomitant with clinical improvement on chemotherapy, suggesting that the abnormalities were the result of the illness rather than its cause. Malnutrition could have been the underlying factor for the immunologic deficiencies seen in some patients.