IL-4 and IL-13, two cytokines known to induce DC-SIGN expression in monocytes [22], are unlikely to account for DC-SIGN expression by alveolar Mφs in patients with TB, because these cytokines were either not detected (IL-13) or detected in variable amounts and independently of pathology (IL-4) in BAL fluids from a number of different patients. This evidence concerns the gene CD209 and tuberculosis.