UNLABELLED The Mycobacterium tuberculosis Proteome Comparison Database (MTB-PCDB) is an online database providing integrated access to proteome sequence comparison data for five strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H37Rv, H37Ra, CDC 1551, F11 and KZN 1435) sequenced completely so far. MTB-PCDB currently hosts 40252 protein sequence comparison data obtained through inter-strain proteome compar...

Worldwide, there are nearly 10 million new cases of active TB and 1.8 million associated deaths every year. WHO estimates that one-third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), forming a huge latent Mtb global reservoir. This renders the prospect of ever eliminating Mtb from the human race almost impossible. Several controversial issues regarding host-pathog...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a leading cause of mortality worldwide from an infectious agent. Natural killer T (NKT) cells recognize mycobacterial antigens and contribute to anti-MTB immunity in mouse models. NKT cells were measured in subjects with pulmonary tuberculosis, MTB-exposed individuals, and healthy controls. NKT cell levels are selectively lower in peripheral blood mononuclear...

BACKGROUND Septic shock due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is an uncommon but well-recognized clinical syndrome. The objective of this study was to describe the unique clinical characteristics, epidemiologic risk factors, and covariates of survival of patients with MTB septic shock in comparison with other bacterial septic shock. METHODS A retrospective nested cohort study was conducted ...

The outcome of infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) depends greatly on how the host responds to the bacteria and how the bacteria manipulates the host, which is facilitated by protein-protein interactions. Thus, to understand this process, there is a need for elucidating protein interactions between human and Mtb, which may enable us to characterize specific molecular mechanisms allowi...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the etiological agent of human tuberculosis (TB), has plagued humans for thousands of years. TB still remains a major public health problem in our era, causing more than 4,400 deaths worldwide every day and killing more people than HIV. After inhaling Mtb-contaminated aerosols, TB primo-infection starts in the terminal lung airways, where Mtb is taken up by alv...

OBJECTIVES Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading infectious disease in the developing world. Delayed-type hypersensitivity skin test diagnoses TB using tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD), but this test is incapable of distinguishing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection from bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination or an infection caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). This st...

New strategies are needed to develop better tools to control TB, including identification of novel antigens for vaccination. Such Mtb antigens must be expressed during Mtb infection in the major target organ, the lung, and must be capable of eliciting human immune responses. Using genome-wide transcriptomics of Mtb infected lungs we developed data sets and methods to identify IVE-TB (in-vivo ex...

In this study, we report a new approach that allows dissection of distinct pathways regulating induction of early adaptive immunity in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). We used traceable murine dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophage populations to chart their migratory pattern in response to Mtb, and found that only DCs receiving inflammatory stimuli from Mtb up-regulated their expres...

Background.  The Xpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)/rifampicin (RIF) is a fully automated diagnostic test that allows for the detection of MTB including its RIF resistance. Although the test is used for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in sputum samples worldwide, studies using fecal specimens are scarce. We therefore evaluated the efficacy of the Xpert MTB/RIF test for detection of MTB i...