Air pollution, smoking affect latent tuberculosis

Carbon monoxide aids shift from active infection to a drug-resistant dormant TB infection

TB lung lesions stained to show CO fingerprint biology. Click here for more information.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A toxic gas present in air pollution and tobacco smoke plays a significant role in triggering tuberculosis infection, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

The UAB study focused on carbon monoxide (CO), a colorless, odorless gas present in tobacco smoke, and vehicle and manufacturing plant emissions. Also, CO is produced naturally in brushfires and volcanic gas.

The study showed that CO triggers Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis, to shift from active infection to a drug-resistant dormant state. This is called latency, a global problem that results in tuberculosis escaping detection and treatment, and which contributes to overall tuberculosis transmission.

“This is the first description of a role for CO in mycobacterial pathogenesis, and may explain why smoking and air pollution contributes to TB,” said Adrie Steyn, Ph.D., assistant professor in UAB’s Department of Microbiology and lead author on the study.