i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
PLoS Pathog. 2022 May 26;18(5):e1010490. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010490. eCollection 2022 May.
Tuberculosis (TB), one of the deadliest threats to human health, is mainly caused by 2 highly related and human-adapted bacteria broadly known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium africanum. Whereas M. tuberculosis is widely spread, M. africanum is restricted to West Africa, where it remains a significant cause of tuberculosis. Although several differences have been identified between these 2 pathogens, M. africanum remains a lot less studied than M. tuberculosis. Here, we discuss the genetic, phenotypic, and clinical similarities and differences between strains of M. tuberculosis and M. africanum. We also discuss our current knowledge on the immune response to M. africanum and how it possibly articulates with distinct disease progression and with the geographical restriction attributed to this pathogen. Understanding the functional impact of the diversity existing in TB-causing bacteria, as well as incorporating this diversity in TB research, will contribute to the development of better, more specific approaches to tackle TB.
结核病（TB）是对人类健康最致命的威胁之一，主要由两种高度相关且适应人类的细菌引起，通常被称为结核分枝杆菌和非洲分枝杆菌。虽然结核分枝杆菌分布广泛，但非洲分枝杆菌仅局限于西非，在那里它仍然是结核病的重要原因。尽管这两种病原体之间已经确定了一些差异，但非洲分枝杆菌的研究仍远少于结核分枝杆菌。在这里，我们讨论了结核分枝杆菌和非洲分枝杆菌菌株之间在遗传、表型和临床方面的相似性和差异。我们还讨论了我们目前对非洲分枝杆菌免疫反应的认识，以及它如何可能与不同的疾病进展和该病原体的地理限制有关。了解导致结核病的细菌中存在的多样性的功能影响，并将这种多样性纳入结核病研究中，将有助于开发更好、更有针对性的方法来解决结核病问题。
