Open AccessTranslocation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis after experimental ingestion
Author(s) -
Mustapha Fellag,
Ahmed Loukil,
Jamal Saad,
Hubert Lépidi,
Fériel Bouzid,
Fabienne Brégeon
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0227005
Subject(s) - tuberculosis , mycobacterium tuberculosis , mycobacterium bovis , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , ingestion , mycobacterium , bacteria , lymph , spleen , virology , immunology , medicine , pathology , genetics , biochemistry
Human tuberculosis is a life-threatening infection following the inhalation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis , while the closely related bacteria Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium canettii are thought to be transmitted by ingestion. To explore whether M . tuberculosis could also infect individuals by ingestion, male BALBc mice were fed 2 x 10 6 CFUs of M . tuberculosis Beijing or phosphate-buffered saline as a negative control, over a 28-day experiment. While eight negative control mice remained disease-free, M . tuberculosis was identified in the lymph nodes and lungs of 8/14 mice and in the spleens of 4/14 mice by microscopy, PCR-based detection and culture. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed the identity of the inoculum and the tissue isolates. In these genetically identical mice, the dissemination of M . tuberculosis correlated with the results of the culture detection of four intestinal bacteria. These observations indicate that ingested M . tuberculosis mycobacteria can translocate, notably provoking lymphatic tuberculosis.