Tuberculosis
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Comparison of the socio-demographic and clinical features of pulmonary TB patients infected with sub-lineages within the W-Beijing and non-Beijing Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Highly lethal outbreaks of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis are increasing. Mycobacterium tuberculosis variant Beijing family and its members is regarded as a successful clone of M. tuberculosis that is associated with drug resistance in China. Understanding the genetic characteristics and molecular mechanism of drug resistant tuberculosis within Beijing family may help to clarify its origin and evolutionary history and the driving forces behind its emergence and current dissemination. ⋯ Sublineage 181 might have the capacity to spread throughout the general community in rural China. This is the first report on the extensive association of sub-lineage 181 with MDR TB and possibly pre-XDR TB and XDR TB. It is important to monitor sublineage 181 to verify its heightened transmission and understand its importance in the global MDR-TB and XDR-TB epidemics.
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Technological advances in nucleic acid amplification have led to breakthroughs in the early detection of PTB compared to traditional sputum smear tests. The sensitivity and specificity of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), simultaneous amplification testing (SAT), and Xpert MTB/RIF for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis were evaluated. A critical review of previous studies of LAMP, SAT, and Xpert MTB/RIF for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis that used laboratory culturing as the reference method was carried out together with a meta-analysis. ⋯ LAMP, SAT and Xpert MTB/RIF had comparably high levels of sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of tuberculosis. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of three methods were similar, with LAMP being highly sensitive for the diagnosis of smear-positive PTB. The cost effectiveness of LAMP and SAT make them particularly suitable tests for diagnosing PTB in developing countries.
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Exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) may lead to active or latent tuberculosis, or clearance of Mtb, depending essentially on the quality of the host's immune response. This response is initiated through the interaction of Mtb cell wall surface components, mostly glycolipids, with cells of the innate immune system, particularly macrophages (Mφs) and dendritic cells (DCs). The way Mφs and DC alter their cytokine secretome, activate or inhibit different microbicidal mechanisms and present antigens and consequently trigger the T cell-mediated immune response impacts the host immune response against Mtb. ⋯ Understanding the immunomodulatory properties of these cell wall glycolipids, how they differ between distinct Mtb strains, and how they influence the degree of Mtb virulence, is of utmost relevance to understand how the host mounts a protective or otherwise pathologic immune response. This is essential for the design of preventive strategies against tuberculosis. Thus, since clarifying the controversy on this matter is crucial we here review, summarize and discuss reported data from in vitro stimulation with the three major Mtb complex cell wall glycolipids (ManLAM, PIMs and LM) in an attempt to conciliate the conflicting findings.
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Multicenter Study
Resistance profile and risk factors of drug resistant tuberculosis in the Baltic countries.
The rates of multi- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (X/MDRTB) in the Baltic countries are the highest within the European Union hampering recent achievements of national TB control programmes. We included all consecutive culture-confirmed X/MDRTB patients registered for treatment in 2009 in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia into this multicenter case-control study. Cases were compared with randomly selected controls with non-MDRTB registered for treatment in the same year across these sites. ⋯ All patients received appropriate therapy; less than half of the patients were fully adherent. An erroneous treatment strategy is unlikely to drive resistance development. Increasing patients' compliance, addressing issues of social support, rapid detection of drug resistance and improving infection control is crucial for prevention of further spread of X/MDRTB and achieving higher cure rates.
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Review Meta Analysis
Chinese herbal medicine as adjuvant treatment to chemotherapy for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB): A systematic review of randomised clinical trials.
Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been increasingly used as an adjuvant treatment for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in China. To inform clinical practice, we performed a systematic review on the beneficial effect and safety of CHM for MDR-TB. ⋯ CHM as an adjuvant to anti-TB chemotherapy may have beneficial effect for MDR-TB in terms of bacteriological and radiological outcomes, and is relatively safe. However, due to poor methodological reporting of the included trials, a confirmative conclusion needs to be supported by further robust clinical trials.