RxPG News : Tuberculosis

Diabetes mellitus increases risk of TB

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:02:30 PST

People with diabetes mellitus are at increased risk of developing active tuberculosis (TB), according to an analysis published in PLoS Medicine.

XDR TB in South Africa traced to lack of drug susceptibility testing

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 04:00:00 PST

In South Africa, the 2001 implementation of the World Health Organization�s anti-tuberculosis program may have inadvertently helped to create a new strain of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB). In a new study published in the December 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online, researchers tracked the developing drug resistance of one particular strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis over 12 years. They found that at the time of the 2001 adoption of the DOT+ strategy for multi-drug resistant strains, the strain was already resistant to one or more of the drugs mandated by that strategy, thus allowing the strain to survive and develop resistance to additional drugs.

Vitamin D supplements may offer cheap and effective immune system boost against TB

Tue, 15 May 2007 19:14:09 PST

Scientists have shown that a single 2.5mg dose of vitamin D may be enough to boost the immune system to fight against tuberculosis (TB) and similar bacteria for at least 6 weeks. Their findings came from a study that identified an extraordinarily high incidence of vitamin D deficiency amongst those communities in London most at risk from the disease, which kills around two million people each year.

Tuberculin skin tests not sensitive in detecting latent TB

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 05:46:21 PST

Two new interferon-gamma blood test assays to detect latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) showed customers were exposed to a supermarket employee in Holland who had smear-positive tuberculosis, while traditional tuberculin skin tests (TST) did not, according to a large contact study.

Emergence of highly drug-resistant tuberculosis strains requires urgent action

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 18:11:00 PST

New forms of highly drug-resistant tuberculosis are emerging and action must be taken soon before they become widespread globally, says an editorial in this week's BMJ.

Treating populations infected with HIV and latent TB could speed the emergence of drug-resistant TB

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 14:28:00 PST

In 2005, 46 regional Ministers of Health in Africa declared that a dramatic rise in tuberculosis (TB) cases was cause for emergency. In some African countries, annual TB case notifications have increased as much as four-fold over the past 15 years. The main culprit? The emergence of HIV. When individuals are infected with both HIV and TB, they are more likely to progress from latent TB infection to active TB.

Solution to TB epidemic may lie in protective Heme oxygenase 1 protein

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 08:00:00 PST

Most Americans think of tuberculosis as a disease of the past, but with HIV and drug-resistant strains fueling epidemics in India and Africa, TB kills someone every six seconds across the world.

Explaining Why People of African Descent Are More Vulnerable to TB

Sat, 25 Feb 2006 10:06:00 PST

A team of scientists has identified a cellular mechanism that may help explain the puzzle of why people of African descent are more susceptible to tuberculosis infection and why, once infected, they develop more severe states of the disease than whites. The team includes researchers from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).

Indian Scientists Identify Key Genes in Tuberculosis Infection

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 23:39:00 PST

Scientists in India, led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar, have identified five key genes that enable Mycobacterium tuberculosis to acquire the iron it needs to sustain growth and promote infection.

PA-824 holds promise for shortening the TB treatment regimen

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 16:54:00 PST

Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have determined how a promising drug candidate attacks the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB). Published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the finding may help scientists optimize the drug candidate, PA-824, which targets Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb).

DC-SIGN expressing alveolar macrophages are preferentially targeted by M. tuberculosis

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:21:00 PST

C-type lectins are carbohydrate-binding cell surface molecules with a wide range of biological functions, many of which are related to immunity. Despite its name, dendritic cell specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3 grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN) is not only expressed on dendritic cells but also on specialized macrophages in the placenta and lung. A number of pathogens are known to interact with DC-SIGN, and some (including HIV) seem to have evolved to derive advantages from these interactions.

Tuberculosis Still a Risk for Patients on Anti-retrovirals

Sat, 12 Nov 2005 19:58:00 PST

People taking highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV infection remain susceptible to tuberculosis, though the risk is lower than for HIV-infected patients not on HAART, according to an article in the Dec. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

Evolutionary history of tuberculosis is shaped by human migration patterns

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 08:04:00 PST

Genghis Khan and his troops may have unwittingly used more than just brute military force to conquer entire nations and to establish the infamous Mongolian empire. A report in the October issue of Genome Research suggests that Genghis Khan's invasions spanning the continent of Asia during the 13th century may have been a primary vehicle for the dissemination of one of the world's most deadly diseases: tuberculosis.

TB vaccines will fail in developing countries

Sun, 04 Sep 2005 09:38:00 PST

Tuberculosis (TB) vaccines currently on trial at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars will fail to protect populations living close to the Equator, warns a review published in Nature Reviews Immunology . Scientists from UCL (University College London) warn that vaccines designed in the developed world do not take into account differences in immune systems across the globe. They recommend greater use of negative vaccination' in drug design, to prevent the West from developing TB vaccines destined to fail in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where an effective vaccine is most needed.

Increased vaccine efficacy against tuberculosis of recombinant Mycobacterium bovis listeriolysin secreting BCG mutants

Fri, 19 Aug 2005 13:43:00 PST

Tuberculosis remains a major global health threat. Although more than 3 billion doses of the BCG vaccine have been administered to fight tuberculosis, the ability of the BCG vaccine to protect adults is very limited, as is its efficacy against newly emerging isolates.

Ancient origins of tuberculosis-causing bacteria

Fri, 19 Aug 2005 13:35:00 PST

Researchers have long considered tuberculosis, a bacterial respiratory disease that kills 3 million people each year, a relatively recent human affliction. But a new study in PLoS Pathogens suggests that the disease and the pathogens responsible are much older than previously thought.

Flaws Detected in TB Screening in HIV Patients

Thu, 16 Jun 2005 17:57:00 PST

New findings from a Dartmouth Medical School collaboration in Tanzania may alter assumptions about the diagnosis of tuberculosis in HIV-infected people, and prompt a major change in way TB testing is routinely done in the developing world.

Chest X rays not Effective in Determining when TB is Acquired

Thu, 09 Jun 2005 18:12:00 PST

There is little correlation between the appearance of tuberculosis on chest x-rays and how recently the disease was acquired, according to a study in the June 8 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on tuberculosis.

Blood-based TB test matches up to old skin test

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 19:46:00 PST

In a head-to-head matchup between a new blood-based tuberculosis (TB) test and the traditional tuberculin skin test, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in India found that the two methods of detecting latent TB infection are equally good.

Ipr1 Gene that influences Innate Immunity to Tuberculosis

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 16:21:00 PST

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health studying tuberculosis resistance and susceptibility in animals have identified a gene in mice which plays a significant role in limiting the multiplication of intracellular pathogens Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Listeria monocytogenes inside host cells.

Rv1347c - The Missing Enzyme for Tuberculosis Iron Scavenging Pathway

Thu, 31 Mar 2005 16:03:00 PST

Scientists have discovered that a protein that was originally believed to be involved in tuberculosis antibiotic resistance is actually a "missing enzyme" from the biosynthetic pathway for an agent used by the bacteria to scavenge iron.

A New Biochemical Target to Attack Resistant Tuberculosis Bacteriae

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 12:55:00 PST

The research group tested phenothiazine, a drug used in the past to treat schizophrenia, in cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB. They found that phenothiazines killed the bacterium in culture and suppressed its growth in mice with acute TB infection.

Structure of resuscitation promoting factor (Rpf) unveiled

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 21:28:00 PST

UCL scientists have found a protein that could unlock the secret to quicker, more effective treatment of TB by waking TB bacteria in the body. Once the TB bacteria are active again, the disease becomes treatable using common drugs like antibiotics. Scientists believe that uncovering the molecular structure of this protein will lead the way to designing drugs which enable treatment of dormant and multidrug resistant TB.

TB, or not TB: that is the question does TLR signaling hold the answer?

Thu, 16 Dec 2004 18:03:00 PST

Defense against invading pathogens comes in two major forms: innate and adaptive immunity. Local barriers to infection such as the skin, and the production of stomach acid, mucous, tears, and saliva comprise what is known as innate immunity. This form of immunity is critically dependent on signaling by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) that rely heavily on an intracellular adaptor protein called myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88). Acquired immunity is a form of cellular defense where foreign substances are attacked by lymphocytes and destroyed by T cells, and the adaptive immune response is also generally thought to require intact TLR-MyD88 signaling pathways.