ABSTRACT
Specific antibodies are produced during mycobacterial infection, but current thinking supports the early conclusions that antibodies are essential for effective immunity to mycobacterial infection. Acquired immunity can be transferred between experimental animals by sensitized lymphocytes, so that over the last several decades the cell-mediated immune system has been considered central to immunity to mycobacterial infection. The whole concept of cell-mediated immunity grew out of the work of Lurie on mycobacterial infections in the rabbit, and then need for interaction between lymphocytes and macrophages for effective immunity was established during studies on antimycobacterial immunity. Overall though, it appears that interferon is not involved in innate resistance to mycobacterial infection. If interferon has any potential role in protective immunity to mycobacterial infection we could expect some protection from infection and remission of disease after administration of IFN. Overall then, at this stage the evidence neither confirms nor precludes a role for interferon in immunity to mycobacterial infections.
