The arms race between man and Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Time to regroup

摘要

An arms race is an appropriate metaphor to use for the interaction of man and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) through the millennia. Estimates of the time of infection of modern humans with Moth often pre-date the Out-of-Africa migration. Humans have adapted to the changing environment during the migration with respect to climate, food sources and encounters with local pathogens. More recently, there has been adaptation to the demographic changes brought about in the majority of the human population by the Neolithic revolution. By chance and/or selection, specific variants in immune defence have arisen in different population groups. These select for M.tb strains more fit to cause disease and be transmitted, sometimes by exploiting defence systems effective on other bacteria.