Researchers from the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s (NIHR) Southampton Biomedical Research Centre have identified a group of biological markers of tuberculosis (TB) found in high levels among infected patients.
Published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight for World TB Day (24 March 2024), findings from the study could advance a simple blood test to speed up the diagnosis of the infection.
According to the World Health Organization, TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, caused by a bacterium known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is responsible for more than one million deaths each year.
Estimated to affect ten million people globally every year, the highly contagious and easily transmitted TB spreads through the air when infected people cough, sneeze or spit, often affecting the lungs.
Supported by the NIHR and the UK Medical Research Council, researchers collaborated with global experts, including those from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and Cayetano Heredia University in Peru.
Researchers used a novel technique to identify a group of six proteins that are highly accurate in pinpointing TB after studying proteins found in the blood of people with active TB in Africa and South America.
After comparing the biomarkers found in healthy people and patients with lung infections, researchers identified a total of 118 proteins that differed significantly between groups.
Researchers then narrowed down these proteins to six that could distinguish contagious patients with TB from people in good health or with lung conditions.
Dr Diana Garay-Baquero, study co-director, University of Southampton, commented: “The new markers we discovered are truly exciting. The important work now is to develop these into tests that can be used for the millions of people who are transmitting TB without knowing it.”
In February, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded PhaSER Biomedical $2.3m to accelerate drug discovery and development to combat the ‘big three’ infectious diseases: TB, malaria and HIV, as part of a three-year research programme.
