Regulatory T-cell subsets in response to specific Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens in vitro distinguish among individuals with different QTF and TST reactivity

•CD4 + CD25highCD39 + CD127-Treg frequency in fresh PBMCs differ among LTBI groups•PBMC stimulation with Mtb antigens enhance Treg differences among LTBI groups.•CD4 + CD25highCD39 + Foxp3 + Treg frequency is a potential discrimination tool in LTBI.•TST and QFT-IT quantitative values correlate with Treg frequency.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs), a subset of CD4 + T cells related with immune regulation, have been associated with active and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Treg frequencies were evaluated by multicolor flow cytometry (FC) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) stimulated with mycobacterial antigens ESAT-6, CFP-10, and TB7.7 to assess their capacity to distinguish subjects with different reactivity to the QuantiFERON-TB® Gold In-Tube (QFT-IT) test and the tuberculin skin test (TST). Increased frequencies of CD4 + CD25highCD39 + cells were found for the [TST +, QTF +] compared with the [TST +, QTF −] group. Also, higher frequencies were observed for the [TST +, QTF +] compared with the [TST +, QTF −] and [TST −, QTF −] groups in CD4 + CD25highFoxp3 + and CD4 + CD25highCD39 + Foxp3 + populations. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC curve) analysis confirmed these discriminating results. QFT-IT and TST quantitative values correlated with several Treg population frequencies.