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Diminished Susceptibility of African–Americans to Non-tuberculous Mycobacterial Disease

Lung volume 196, pages 125–127 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

The incidence of three granulomatous response diseases—sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, and non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease—differ markedly in African–Americans versus Caucasians. In reviewing a large compendium of non-cystic-fibrosis bronchiectasis, we noted that complicating infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria was relatively infrequent among individuals of African–American descent, confirming previous observations of their inherent resistance. Disease-specific variance among African–Americans in the efficacy of their granulomatous response suggests a nexus, a mediating, immunological mechanism. Environmentally conditioned selection of SLC11A1 (Nramp1) alleles may account for this ethnic variance.

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Abbreviations

AA:

African–American

Nramp1:

Natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1

NTMPD:

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thoracic Oncology Program, Earle A Chiles Research Institute, 7400 SW Barnes Rd. A242, Portland, OR, 97225 -7007, USA

    Jerome M. Reich

  2. Fariborz Maseeh Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA

    Jong S. Kim

Authors
  1. Jerome M. Reich
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  2. Jong S. Kim
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Correspondence to Jerome M. Reich.

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Drs. Reich and Kim declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Reich, J.M., Kim, J.S. Diminished Susceptibility of African–Americans to Non-tuberculous Mycobacterial Disease. Lung 196, 125–127 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-017-0070-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-017-0070-x

Keywords

  • African–American
  • Bronchiectasis
  • Non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease
  • Sarcoidosis
  • Nramp1
  • SLC11A1