A Blood RNA Signature in a Novel Murine Model Predicts Human Tuberculosis Risk

Authors :: Tige R. Rustad
Courtney R. Plumlee
John D. Aitchison
David R. Sherman
Michael K. Axthelm
Vitaly V. Ganusov
Sara B. Cohen
Caleb R. Stoltzfus
Benjamin H. Gern
Michael Y. Gerner
Fergal J. Duffy
Kevin B. Urdahl
Daniel E. Zak
Scott G. Hansen
Jared L. Delahaye
Louis J. Picker
Source :: SSRN Electronic Journal.
Publication Year :: 2020
Publisher :: Elsevier BV, 2020.
Abstract: Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly heterogeneous disease that develops in a subset of individuals infected with aerosolized Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). We sought to develop an improved experimental model by infecting mice with an ultra-low dose (ULD, 1-3 founding Mtb bacteria), which is believed to reflect a physiologic inoculum. ULD-infected mice exhibited bacterial burdens ranging from