Human Genetic Influence on Susceptibility of Tuberculosis: From Infection to Disease
Attapon Cheepsattayakorn MD, FRCP (Lond), FRCP (Edin), FRCP (Glasg), FACP, FCCP*, Ruangrong Cheepsattayakorn MD**
Affiliation : * 10th Zonal Tuberculosis and Chest Disease Center, 10th Office of Disease Prevention and Control, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand ** Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
There is substantial evidence from studies on racial variation in susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) that human genetic variation is an important determinant of the outcome of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M tb). In only a minority of cases is there an obvious identifiable risk factor such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, advanced age, diabetes, corticosteroid usage or alcohol abuse. In the remainder, a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors causes the development of clinical TB. Assessment of the contribution of genetics of host resistance to human TB is a long-standing challenge of human genetics research. Several studies demonstrated the association of various human leukocyte antigens (HLA) with disease susceptibility in different ethnic populations. There are likely to be many more TB- susceptibility genes to be identified.
Keywords : Tuberculosis, Influence, Human genetic
