Genetics of tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The nature of the host-pathogen interaction between humans and M. tuberculosis is considered to have a genetic component. A group of rare disorders called Mendelian Susceptibility to Mycobacterial Diseases (MSMD) was observed in a subset of individuals with a genetic defect that results in increased susceptibility to Mycobacterial infection.

Genome-wide association studies

Early case and twin studies have indicated that genetic component are important in host susceptibility to M. Tuberculosis. Recent Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified three genetic risk loci, including at positions 3q23, 11p13 and 18q11. As is common in GWAS, the variants discovered have moderate effect sizes - but have shown that TB has high polygenic heritability. These studies suggest that while only a handful of alleles have been found, larger well designed studies may find more.

References

1. Mycobacterium tuberculosis
2. Abdominal tuberculosis
3. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
4. Genetic history of Africa
5. Mutation
6. William R. Jacobs Jr.
7. Risk factors for tuberculosis
8. Fasciola hepatica
9. Mycobacterium smegmatis
10. Operon
11. Mongolian idiocy
12. Genetic disorder
13. Origin of replication
14. Mycobacterium
15. Lung cancer
16. Genetic history of Southern Africa
17. Emphysema
18. Lung cavity
19. Friedrich Miescher
20. Sarcoidosis