Innate immune responses to TLR 2 and TLR 4 agonists differ between baboons, chimpanzees and humans

BACKGROUND: African catarrhine primates differ in bacterial disease susceptibility. METHODS: Human, chimpanzee, and baboon blood were stimulated with TLR-detected bacterial agonists and cytokine/chemokine induction assessed by real-time PCR. RESULTS: Humans and chimpanzees shared similar cytokine/chemokine responses, while baboon cytokine/chemokine induction differed. Generally, responses were agonist independent. CONCLUSIONS: These primates tend to generate species rather than agonist-specific responses to bacterial agonists.