HIV coinfection is associated with low fitness rpoB variants in rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

HIV coinfection is associated with low fitness rpoB variants in rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2020 Jul 27;:
Authors: Loiseau C, Brites D, Reinhard M, Zürcher K, Borrell S, Ballif M, Fenner L, Cox H, Rutaihwa LK, Wilkinson RJ, Yotebieng M, Carter EJ, Abimiku A, Marcy O, Gotuzzo E, Avihingsanon A, Zetola N, Doulla B, Böttger EC, Egger M, Gagneux S
Abstract
We analysed 312 drug-resistant genomes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) collected from HIV coinfected and HIV negative TB patients from nine countries with a high tuberculosis burden. We found that rifampicin-resistant Mtb strains isolated from HIV coinfected patients carried disproportionally more resistance-conferring mutations in rpoB that are associated with a low fitness in the absence of the drug, suggesting these low fitness rpoB variants can thrive in the context of reduced host immunity.
PMID: 32718966 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy - July 26, 2020 Category: Microbiology Authors: Loiseau C, Brites D, Reinhard M, Zürcher K, Borrell S, Ballif M, Fenner L, Cox H, Rutaihwa LK, Wilkinson RJ, Yotebieng M, Carter EJ, Abimiku A, Marcy O, Gotuzzo E, Avihingsanon A, Zetola N, Doulla B, Böttger EC, Egger M, Gagneux S Tags: Antimicrob Agents Chemother Source Type: research