Tuberculosis in children and adults: two distinct genetic diseases.
Disseminated disease in children and pulmonary disease in adults constitute two major epidemiological and clinical forms of tuberculosis. Paradoxically, only a small fraction of infected individuals develop clinical tuberculosis, typically one form of the disease or the other. Mendelian and complex genetic predispositions to tuberculosis were reported recently in children and adults, respectively. Here, we argue that tuberculosis and its clinical expression largely reflect the underlying human genetic background.
Alcaïs
Alexandre
A
Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, University of Paris René Descartes-INSERM U550, Necker Medical School, 75015 Paris, France.
Fieschi
Claire
C
Abel
Laurent
L
Casanova
Jean-Laurent
JL
D000328:Adult; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D040582:Inheritance Patterns / Q000276:immunology*; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000276:immunology*; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin / Q000378:metabolism; D053707:Receptors, Interleukin-12; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
C111835:CCL2 protein, human; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin; D053707:Receptors, Interleukin-12