title: Ascertaining in vivo virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages in patients in Mbeya, Tanzania.
abstract: We evaluated the relationship between the degree of immunodeficiency indicated by the number of circulating CD4+ T-cells and Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages identified by spoligotyping and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeats genotyping in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals with pulmonary tuberculosis from Mbeya, Tanzania. Of M. tuberculosis strains from 129 patients, respectively 55 (42.6%) and 37 (28.7%) belonged to Latin American Mediterranean and Delhi/Central-Asian lineages, while 37 (28.7%) patients were infected with other strains. There was no difference in the distribution of M. tuberculosis lineages among patients with early or advanced stages of HIV infection (P = 0.785), indicating that the virulence of strains from these lineages may not be substantially different in vivo.
authors.affiliation: <sup>*</sup>Division of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Research Center Borstel, Borstel, Germany; German Center for Infection Research, Borstel Site, Borstel, Germany.
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Olaru
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical Centre of the University of Munich, Munich, Germany; German Center for Infection Research Tuberculosis Unit, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rachow
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Research Center Borstel, Borstel, Germany; German Center for Infection Research, Borstel Site, Borstel, Germany; International Health/Infectious Diseases University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Namibia School of Medicine, Windhoek, Namibia.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Medical Research - Mbeya Medical Research Centre (NIMR-MMRC), Mbeya, Tanzania.
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Ntinginya
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reither
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical Centre of the University of Munich, Munich, Germany; German Center for Infection Research Tuberculosis Unit, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoelscher
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Informatics and Statistics, University Hospitals Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vollrath
authors.affiliation: German Center for Infection Research, Borstel Site, Borstel, Germany; Molecular Mycobacteriology, Research Center Borstel, Borstel, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niemann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D056426:Genetic Loci; D060005:Genotyping Techniques; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences; D013636:Tanzania; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial