IL1B and tuberculosis: In addition, other non-specific proteins to platelets, such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB), regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and presumably secreted (RANTES), macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha (MIP1α), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), pentraxin 3, interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) have been found increased in plasma from TB patients (8, 9, 13).