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Updated: Sep 4, 2025

An Automated Culture System for Use in Preclinical Testing of Host-Directed Therapies for Tuberculosis
Published on: August 16, 2021
Genetic and hormonal mechanisms underlying sex-specific immune responses in tuberculosis
Manish Gupta1, Geetha Srikrishna1, Sabra L Klein2
1Center for TB Research, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
Abstract:
Tuberculosis (TB), the world's deadliest bacterial infection, afflicts more human males than females, with a male/female (M/F) ratio of 1.7. Sex disparities in TB prevalence, pathophysiology, and clinical manifestations are widely reported, but the underlying biological mechanisms remain largely undefined. This review assesses epidemiological data on sex disparity in TB, as well as possible underlying hormonal and genetic mechanisms that might differentially modulate innate and adaptive immune responses in males and females, leading to sex differences in disease susceptibility. We consider whether this sex disparity can be extended to the efficacy of vaccines and discuss novel animal models which may offer mechanistic insights. A better understanding of the biological factors underpinning sex-related immune responses in TB may enable sex-specific personalized therapies for TB.
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