Innate immune responses to TLR2 and TLR4 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.