Excessive Cytolytic Responses Predict Tuberculosis Relapse After Apparently Successful Treatment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Currently, there are no tools to accurately predict tuberculosis relapse. This study aimed to determine whether patients who experience tuberculosis relapse have different immune responses to mycobacteria in vitro than patients who remain cured for 2 years.

Methods

Patients with an initial episode of pulmonary tuberculosis were recruited in South Africa. Diluted blood, collected at diagnosis and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, was cultured with live Mycobacterium tuberculosis for 6 days, and cellular RNA was frozen. Gene expression in samples from 10 patients who subsequently experienced relapse, confirmed by strain genotyping, was compared to that in samples from patients who remained cured, using microarrays.

Results

At diagnosis, expression of 668 gene

SUBMITTER: Cliff JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4704670 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature