Table 4.
Relationship between cytokine responses and BCG scar presence.
| Cytokine | Assay stimulus | Absent scar (n = 549) | Present scar (n = 791) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geometric mean (pcg/ml) | Geometric mean (pcg/ml) | GMRa (95% CI) | ||
| IFN-γ | cCFPb | 214.4 | 339.9 | 1.59 (1.21, 2.10) |
| Ag85 | 92.0 | 170.1 | 1.85 (1.43, 2.42) | |
| TTc | 27.9 | 36.3 | 1.24 (0.92, 1.68) | |
| PHA | 302.1 | 328.1 | 1.09 (0.87, 1.36) | |
| IL-5 | cCFPb | 3.8 | 4.4 | 1.17 (0.91, 1.50) |
| Ag85 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1.15 (0.95, 1.39) | |
| TTc | 37.2 | 41.0 | 1.10 (0.83, 1.47) | |
| PHA | 9.8 | 11.2 | 1.11 (0.84, 1.48) | |
| IL-13 | cCFPb | 14.0 | 22.8 | 1.63 (1.26, 2.10) |
| Ag85 | 5.9 | 8.7 | 1.46 (1.17, 1.82) | |
| TTc | 39.2 | 38.9 | 0.97 (0.76, 1.26) | |
| PHA | 141.6 | 156.2 | 1.10 (0.91, 1.36) | |
| IL-10 | cCFPb | 75.3 | 77.2 | 1.02 (0.82, 1.29) |
| Ag85 | 64.2 | 70.4 | 1.10 (0.89, 1.35) | |
| TTc | 5.0 | 5.5 | 1.00 (0.79, 1.26) | |
| PHA | 160.5 | 168.0 | 1.05 (0.87, 1.26) | |
The table compares the cytokine responses of infants, with and without BCG scars, to four assay stimuli: crude culture filtrate protein (cCFP); antigen 85 (Ag85); tetanus toxoid (TT); and phytohaemagglutinin (PHA). Missing values for cCFPb, Ag85, TT and PHA assays are 253, 2, 8 and 16 respectively.
a
Geometric mean ratios (GMRs) comparing those with scars to those without are shown with bias-corrected accelerated confidence intervals. GMRs significantly different from 1.00 are indicated in bold.
b
Excluding the 2nd batch of cCFP antigen (see text).
c
Adjusted for TT batch (see text).