ABSTRACT
Susceptibility of Diabetic Patients to tuberculosis
Diabetes is a debilitating disease which affects several million people throughout the world. Hispanic and African-American populations are severe targets for the disease and it appears that there is a link between obesity and diabetes. Hispanic population is a dominant population in US-Mexico border region, and, as a consequence, this region has very high prevalence rates for diabetes. Diabetes patients face several risks and compilications and one of the most common risks is infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis. As compared to healthy pople, diabetic patients face 2-5 times more risk of developing TB. Although this has been known for several years and has been attributed to general immune dysfunction associated with diabetes, much of the available literature on this topic has not dealt with modern immunology. Particularly, the ability of diabetic macrophages to kill intracellular Mtb and the role of diabetic cytokines in susceptibility or resistance to infection are poorly understood.
This proposal is aimed at determining the ability of diabetic macrophages to kill Mtb, and studying the cytokine responses of diabetic lymphocytes and monocyte/macrophages to Mtb. The results of this study will help, in addition to clarifying the immune defect in diabetes, formulate new hypotheses on susceptibility of diabetes to TB.
