Sequencing-relative to hybridization-based transcriptomics approaches better define Mycobacterium tuberculosis stress-response regulons
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infections cause tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease which causes ∼ 1.5 million deaths annually. The ability of this pathogen to evade, escape and encounter immune surveillance is fueled by its adaptability. Thus Mtb induce a transition its transcriptome in its response to environmental changes. Global transcriptome profiling has been key to our understanding of how Mtb responds to the different stress conditions it faces during its life cycle. While this was initially achieved using microarray technology, RNAseq is now widely employed. (Source: Tuberculosis)
Source: Tuberculosis - September 26, 2016 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Ashley V. Veatch, Tianhua Niu, John Caskey, Amanda McGillivray, Uma Shankar Gautam, Ramesh Subramanian, K. Gus Kousoulas, Smriti Mehra, Deepak Kaushal Source Type: research
Culture is an Imperfect and Heterogeneous Reference Standard in Pediatric Tuberculosis
Confirmation of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in children remains a diagnostic challenge due to the combination of its non-specific signs and symptoms, paucibacillary nature, difficulties obtaining adequate sputum specimens and lack of an appropriately sensitive diagnostic test1. The roll out of Gene Xpert ® MTB/RIF (Xpert, Cepheid, USA) has potential to advance childhood TB diagnostics. To inform the World Health Organization (WHO) updated policy, a systematic review and meta-analysis of Xpert performance in childhood TB estimated that Xpert confirms a diagnosis in 62-66% of culture-positive pediatr ic cases and affords a ...
Source: Tuberculosis - September 26, 2016 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Andrew R. DiNardo, Anne Detjen, Pilar Ustero, Katherine Ngo, Jason Bacha, Anna M. Mandalakas Source Type: research
Predictive value of serum bradykinin and desArg9-bradykinin levels for chemotherapeutic responses in active tuberculosis patients: A retrospective case series
There is an urgent need for methods that can rapidly and accurately assess therapeutic responses in patients with active tuberculosis (TB) in order to predict treatment outcomes. Exposure to bacterial pathogens can rapidly activate the plasma contact system, triggering the release of bradykinin (BK) and its metabolite desArg9-bradykinin (DABK) to induce inflammation and innate immune responses. We hypothesized that serum BK and DABK levels might act as sensitive immune response signatures for changes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) burden, and therefore examined how serum levels of these markers corresponded with anti-...
Source: Tuberculosis - September 26, 2016 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Xu Qian, Duc T.M. Nguyen, Yaojun Li, Jianxin Lyu, Edward A. Graviss, Tony Y. Hu Source Type: research
Cord factor as an Invisibility Cloak? A Hypothesis for Asymptomatic TB Persistence
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) has long been known to be found in grossly normal tissues even in people with active lesions and granulomas in other parts of the body. RL Hunter et al. recently published a report indicating that post-primary TB begins as an asymptomatic infection that slowly progresses, accumulating materials for a massive necrotizing reaction which results in cavitation. This paper explores the possible roles of trehalose 6,6 ’ dimycolate (TDM) or cord factor in the ability of MTB to persist in such lesions without producing inflammation. (Source: Tuberculosis)
Source: Tuberculosis - September 26, 2016 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Robert L. Hunter, Shen-An Hwang, Chinnaswamy Jagannath, Jeffrey K. Actor Source Type: research
Tuberculosis-diabetes epidemiology in the border and non-border regions of Tamaulipas, Mexico
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is a re-emerging risk factor for TB development and adverse TB outcomes. As a follow-up of our previous study in 1998-2004, we reassessed prevalence of DM and its associated factors among 8,431 TB patients using surveillance data from 2006-2013 for the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, across the border with Texas. Prevalence of DM was 25.2%, with an increase of at least 2.8% over the study period. Newly discovered factors associated with TB-DM (versus no DM) were lower education and higher unemployment (p (Source: Tuberculosis)
Source: Tuberculosis - September 26, 2016 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Bassent E. Abdelbary, Moncerrato Garcia-Viveros, Horacio Ramirez-Oropesa, Mohammad H. Rahbar, Blanca I. Restrepo Source Type: research
