Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Pancreatic Cancer (Jul 2025)
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
The knowns and unknowns of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
W. Henry Boom, … , Ulrich E. Schaible, Jacqueline M. Achkar
W. Henry Boom, … , Ulrich E. Schaible, Jacqueline M. Achkar
Published February 1, 2021
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2021;131(3):e136222. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI136222.
View: Text | PDF
Review Article has an altmetric score of 10

The knowns and unknowns of latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

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.

Authors

W. Henry Boom, Ulrich E. Schaible, Jacqueline M. Achkar

×

Figure 3

Interactions between infected PMNs and macrophages can determine the balance of exacerbating versus protective host responses in LTBI.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
Interactions between infected PMNs and macrophages can determine the bal...
Wild-type but not attenuated Mtb drives PMNs into necrotic cell death in a myeloperoxidase-dependent manner. Uptake of Mtb together with necrotic PMNs by resting macrophages further promotes mycobacterial propagation and macrophage necrosis, releasing Mtb for another round of intracellular replication and macrophage death. In contrast, immune activation in LTBI equips macrophages with a potent antimicrobial armamentarium to control and possibly eliminate Mtb. MDSC, myeloid-derived suppressor cells; NET, neutrophil extracellular traps; –OCL, hypochlorite.

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts

Posted by 15 X users
On 1 Facebook pages
230 readers on Mendeley
See more details