TY - JOUR T1 - Interleukin-12 as successful adjuvant in tuberculosis treatment JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1049 LP - 1051 DO - 10.1183/09031936.01.17510490 VL - 17 IS - 5 AU - U. Greinert AU - M. Ernst AU - M. Schlaak AU - P. Entzian Y1 - 2001/05/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/17/5/1049.abstract N2 - Interleukin-12 (IL-12) proved to be an effective and successful adjuvant to a standard antituberculotic medication in a patient suffering from progressive clinical tuberculosis (TB).IL-12 is a potent enhancer of interferon-γ production which is necessary for killing intracellular bacteria like mycobacteria. This patient's TB was progressive, although sensitivity to first-line antituberculotics was proven and medication was given as directly observed therapy over more than 8 months. The 3-month adjuvant therapy with IL-12 significantly and convincingly improved results.It is believed that this case, the first in the literature to describe adjuvant interleukin-12 therapy in tuberculosis, strongly encourages the study of adjuvant interleukin-12 therapy on a more systematic basis. ER -