Figure 1.
(a) Experimental schema of the prime boost protocol designed for the study. Adult BALB/c mice were s.c. primed with PBS or 5 × 105 CFUs BCG. 4, 6, and 8 weeks later, mice of each group received PBS or 100 UI IFN-α i.m. Two weeks after i.n. with Ag85B, spleen, lymph node, or lung cells from PBS control mice, BCG-vaccinated mice, IFN-alpha, or BCG-vaccinated/IFN-alpha boosted mice were cultured in the presence of medium (RPMI1640/2% FBS) only or Ag85B (2.5 μg/ml). (b-c) Levels of cytokines were measured after 72 h culture in the supernatants by using the OptEIA™ kit (BD Biosciences). Values are expressed in pg/ml and represent media ± SEM of samples tested in duplicate from each group of mice. Differences are significant at P < 0.05 with respect to control PBS immunized mice or to BCG-vaccinated without boost (∗, ∗∗ or ∗∗∗).