The knowns and unknowns of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
W. Henry Boom,1,2,3 Ulrich E. Schaible,4,5 and Jacqueline M. Achkar6,7
1Department of Medicine,
2Department of Pathology, and
3Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
4Division of Cellular Microbiology, Research Center Borstel–Leibniz Lung Center, Borstel, Germany.
5German Center for Infection Research, partner site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany.
6Department of Medicine and
7Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
Address correspondence to: Jacqueline M. Achkar, Departments of Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Block Building, Room 115, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. Phone: 718.430.8763; Email: jacqueline.achkar@einsteinmed.org.
Find articles by Boom, W. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
1Department of Medicine,
2Department of Pathology, and
3Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
4Division of Cellular Microbiology, Research Center Borstel–Leibniz Lung Center, Borstel, Germany.
5German Center for Infection Research, partner site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany.
6Department of Medicine and
7Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
Address correspondence to: Jacqueline M. Achkar, Departments of Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Block Building, Room 115, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. Phone: 718.430.8763; Email: jacqueline.achkar@einsteinmed.org.
Find articles by Schaible, U. in: JCI | PubMed | Google Scholar
1Department of Medicine,
2Department of Pathology, and
3Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
4Division of Cellular Microbiology, Research Center Borstel–Leibniz Lung Center, Borstel, Germany.
5German Center for Infection Research, partner site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany.
6Department of Medicine and
7Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA.
Address correspondence to: Jacqueline M. Achkar, Departments of Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Block Building, Room 115, Bronx, New York 10461, USA. Phone: 718.430.8763; Email: jacqueline.achkar@einsteinmed.org.
Find articles by
Achkar, J.
in:
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Published February 1, 2021 - More info
J Clin Invest. 2021;131(3):e136222. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI136222.
© 2021 American Society for Clinical Investigation
Humans have been infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) for thousands of years. While tuberculosis (TB), one of the deadliest infectious diseases, is caused by uncontrolled Mtb infection, over 90% of presumed infected individuals remain asymptomatic and contain Mtb in a latent TB infection (LTBI) without ever developing disease, and some may clear the infection. A small number of heavily Mtb-exposed individuals appear to resist developing traditional LTBI. Because Mtb has mechanisms for intracellular survival and immune evasion, successful control involves all of the arms of the immune system. Here, we focus on immune responses to Mtb in humans and nonhuman primates and discuss new concepts and outline major knowledge gaps in our understanding of LTBI, ranging from the earliest events of exposure and infection to success or failure of Mtb control.
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