Munjal Shafaa, Munjal Shalok, Gao Jingya, Venketaraman Vishwanath
Palm Desert High School, Palm Desert, CA 92260, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14215, USA.
Clin Pract. 2021 Sep 9;11(3):619-630. doi: 10.3390/clinpract11030077.
Although there has been a drastic decline in the cases of Tuberculosis in the United States, the prevalence of infections caused by Complex (MAC) has steadily increased in the past decades. () is one of the most abundant microorganisms in the MAC species. The mycobacterium genus is divided into two major groups: tuberculosis causing mycobacteria and non-tuberculous mycobacteria. MAC is most prominent among the non-tuberculous mycobacteria. MAC is an opportunistic pathogen that is present in soil, water, and droplets in the air. MAC infections can result in respiratory disease and can disseminate in affected patients. MAC infections are especially prevalent in patients with preexisting respiratory conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). COPD is one of the most common lung conditions in the world with the primary cause being smoking in developed countries. COPD involves chronic inflammation of lung tissue resulting in increased susceptibility to infection. There is a lack of research regarding the pathophysiology that leads COPD patients to be susceptible to MAC infection. Our review paper therefore aims to investigate how the pathogenicity of MAC bacteria and immune decline seen in COPD patients leads to a greater susceptibility to MAC infection among COPD patients.
尽管美国的结核病病例数已急剧下降，但在过去几十年中，由鸟分枝杆菌复合体（MAC）引起的感染患病率却稳步上升。鸟分枝杆菌是MAC菌群中数量最多的微生物之一。分枝杆菌属分为两大类：引起结核病的分枝杆菌和非结核分枝杆菌。MAC在非结核分枝杆菌中最为突出。MAC是一种机会性病原体，存在于土壤、水和空气中的飞沫中。MAC感染可导致呼吸系统疾病，并可在受影响的患者中传播。MAC感染在患有诸如慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）等现有呼吸系统疾病的患者中尤为普遍。COPD是世界上最常见的肺部疾病之一，在发达国家其主要病因是吸烟。COPD涉及肺组织的慢性炎症，导致易感性增加。关于导致COPD患者易患MAC感染的病理生理学缺乏研究。因此，我们的综述文章旨在研究MAC细菌的致病性以及COPD患者中出现的免疫功能下降如何导致COPD患者更易患MAC感染。
