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Immunoepidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

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Immunoepidemiology

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Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the number one cause of death from an infectious agent in the world, and about a quarter of the global population has latent MTB. Among people carrying infection, about 10% will progress to active disease, and 20% of these will have infection spreading beyond the lungs. The mechanisms underlying this clinical diversity have been an area of interest for decades, and a number of contributing factors have been discovered. This chapter explores the immunoepidemiology of MTB through discussions of foundational immunology and associated risk factors that influence disease presentation. Specifically, we examine how regional infectious diseases interact with the human immune system and influence its response to MTB. We discuss the role of nutrition and nutrient response in host defense through a case study of vitamin D and its receptor. We highlight important inherited immunological diversity through the example of human leukocyte antigens (HLA). Finally, we discuss how polymorphisms in the human genome can alter the activity of critical immune proteins and explain some of the disease diversities observed in MTB. Overall, the immunoepidemiology of MTB provides a framework for discussions of molecular medicine and how it has deepened our understanding of disease phenotype. In time, we expect this knowledge will inform a medical future where detailed genetic information can contribute to targeted prognostics and therapeutics.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Camila D. Odio

  2. Departments of Medicine (Rheumatology), Pathology, and Epidemiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Richard J. Bucala

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  1. Camila D. Odio
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Correspondence to Richard J. Bucala .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health and Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Peter J. Krause

  2. Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Paula B. Kavathas

  3. Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA

    Nancy H. Ruddle

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Odio, C.D., Bucala, R.J. (2019). Immunoepidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In: Krause, P., Kavathas, P., Ruddle, N. (eds) Immunoepidemiology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25553-4_9

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