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Drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: cell envelope profiles and interactions with the host

Alyssa Schami1,2, M Nurul Islam3, John T Belisle3

  • 1Population Health Program, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States.

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
|November 29, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) strains are a growing threat. This review explores how M.tb cell envelope changes contribute to drug resistance and impact tuberculosis infection outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
  • Drug Resistance Mechanisms
  • Tuberculosis Pathogenesis

Background:

  • Increasing prevalence of drug-resistant (DR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) strains, including multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) forms, poses a significant global health challenge.
  • The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development and spread of DR-tuberculosis (DR-TB) remains largely unknown.
  • While the M.tb cell envelope is well-studied, its compositional changes associated with drug resistance acquisition are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the complexities of the M.tb cell envelope.
  • To investigate structural and biochemical changes in M.tb related to drug resistance.
  • To describe the influence of M.tb drug resistance on infection outcomes, including fitness, persister bacteria, and subclinical TB.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of existing studies on M.tb cell envelope composition and drug resistance.
  • Analysis of recent research on structural and biochemical alterations in DR-M.tb strains.
  • Synthesis of findings on the impact of drug resistance on M.tb infection dynamics and clinical presentation.

Main Results:

  • The M.tb cell envelope undergoes significant structural and biochemical modifications in response to drug resistance.
  • These changes are critical for understanding how DR-M.tb strains evade current anti-TB drugs.
  • Drug resistance in M.tb influences bacterial fitness, the formation of persister cells, and the development of subclinical TB infections.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding M.tb cell envelope adaptations in DR strains is crucial for developing effective therapeutic strategies.
  • Knowledge of these changes can inform the design of novel anti-TB drugs to combat difficult-to-treat strains.
  • Further research is needed to fully elucidate the link between M.tb drug resistance, cell envelope alterations, and clinical outcomes.
Keywords:
M.tb-host interactionsMycobacterium tuberculosiscell envelope lipidsdrug resistancetuberculosis

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