title: Latent tuberculosis: what the host "sees"?
abstract: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), is the most successful pathogen of mankind and remains a major threat to global health as the leading cause of death due to a bacterial pathogen. Yet 90-95% of those who are infected with MTB remain otherwise healthy. These people are classified as "latently infected," but remain a reservoir from which active TB cases will continue to develop ("reactivation tuberculosis"). Latent infection is defined by the absence of clinical symptoms of TB in addition to a delayed hypersensitivity reaction to the purified protein derivative of MTB used in tuberculin skin test or a T-cell response to MTB-specific antigens. In the absence of reliable control measures for tuberculosis, understanding latent MTB infection and subsequent reactivation is a research priority. This review aims to summarize the recent findings in human and non-human primate models of tuberculosis that have led to new concepts of latent tuberculosis.
authors: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, W1144 Biomedical Science Tower, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
authors: Hannah P
authors: HP
authors: Gideon
authors: JoAnne L
authors: JL
authors: Flynn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006099:Granuloma / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology; D056724:Immunity, Humoral / Q000276:immunology; D055985:Latent Tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology; D011323:Primates; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers