{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T21:32:26Z","timestamp":1788816746198,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,17]],"date-time":"2023-04-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1681689600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"German Research Foundation","award":["JA 1479\/9\u20131"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JA 1479\/9\u20131"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vaccines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Mycobacterium (M.) bovis BCG vaccination is recommended for healthy babies after birth in several countries with a high prevalence of tuberculosis, including Ghana. Previous studies showed that BCG vaccination prevents individuals from developing severe clinical manifestations of tuberculosis, but BCG vaccination effects on the induction of IFN-\u03b3 after M. tuberculosis infection have hardly been investigated. Here, we performed IFN-\u03b3-based T-cell assays (i.e., IFN-\u03b3 Release Assay, IGRA; T-cell activation and maturation marker assay, TAM-TB) in children who had contact with index tuberculosis patients (contacts). These contacts were classified as either being BCG vaccinated at birth (n = 77) or non-BCG-vaccinated (n = 17) and were followed up at three timepoints for a period of one year to determine immune conversion after M. tuberculosis exposure and potential infection. At baseline and month 3, BCG-vaccinated contacts had significantly lower IFN-\u03b3 levels after stimulation with M. tuberculosis-specific proteins as compared to non-BCG-vaccinated contacts. This resulted in decreased proportions of positive IGRA results (BCG-vaccinated: 60% at baseline, 57% at month 3; non-BCG-vaccinated: 77% and 88%, respectively) at month 3. However, until month 12, immune conversion in BCG-vaccinated contacts led to balanced proportions in IGRA responders and IFN-\u03b3 expression between the study groups. TAM-TB assay analyses confirmed higher proportions of IFN-\u03b3-positive T-cells in non-BCG-vaccinated contacts. Low proportions of CD38-positive M. tuberculosis-specific T-cells were only detected in non-BCG-vaccinated contacts at baseline. These results suggest that BCG vaccination causes delayed immune conversion as well as differences in the phenotype of M. tuberculosis-specific T-cells in BCG-vaccinated contacts of tuberculosis patients. These differences are immune biomarker candidates for protection against the development of severe clinical tuberculosis manifestations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines11040855","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,17]],"date-time":"2023-04-17T03:14:09Z","timestamp":1681701249000},"page":"855","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["BCG-Vaccinated Children with Contact to Tuberculosis Patients Show Delayed Conversion of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Specific IFN-\u03b3 Release"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4299-5870","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dorcas O.","family":"Owusu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ernest","family":"Adankwah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"},{"name":"Department of Medical Diagnostics, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wilfred","family":"Aniagyei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isaac","family":"Acheampong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4025-9757","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Difery","family":"Minadzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6271-352X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Augustine","family":"Yeboah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2223-7610","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joseph F.","family":"Arthur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8422-4850","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Millicent","family":"Lamptey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Monika M.","family":"Vivekanandan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammed K.","family":"Abass","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Agogo Presbyterian Hospital, Agogo, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francis","family":"Kumbel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"St. Mathias Catholic Hospital, Yeji, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francis","family":"Osei-Yeboah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Atebubu District Hospital, Atebubu, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amidu","family":"Gawusu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sene West Health Directorate, Kwame Danso, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Linda","family":"Batsa Debrah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexander","family":"Debrah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8460-3738","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ertan","family":"Mayatepek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Pediatrics, Neonatology and Pediatric Cardiology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julia","family":"Seyfarth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Pediatrics, Neonatology and Pediatric Cardiology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8992-0222","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Richard O.","family":"Phillips","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"},{"name":"School of Medicine and Dentistry, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4703-5652","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marc","family":"Jacobsen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Pediatrics, Neonatology and Pediatric Cardiology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1852","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(10)60580-6","article-title":"Age and the epidemiology and pathogenesis of 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