Early phase of effective treatment induces distinct transcriptional changes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis expelled by pulmonary tuberculosis patients.

ABSTRACT: Effective treatment reduces a tuberculosis patient's ability to infect others even before they test negative in sputum or culture. Currently, the basis of reduced infectiousness of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) with effective treatment is unclear. We evaluated changes in aerosolized bacteria expelled by patients through a transcriptomic approach before and after treatment initiation (up to 14 days) by RNA sequencing. A distinct change in the overall transcriptional profile was seen post-treatment initiation compared to pretreatment, only when patients received effective treatment. This also led to the downregulation of genes associated with cellular activities, cell wall assembly, virulence factors indicating loss of pathogenicity, and a diminished ability to infect and survive in n

SUBMITTER: Shaikh A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8426492 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature