Year: 2012
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: IntroductionMycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tuberculosis) is the causative agent of tuberculosis disease.According to the Global Tuberculosis Control 2010 report of the World Health Organization http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/en/,approximately one-third of the world's population is latently infected with M. tuberculosis and about two million people die of this disease every year.The emergence of multi-and extensively-drug resistant strains to the currently available drugs makes the development of new therapeutic strategies a priority.However, the mechanisms underlying pathogenesis, virulence and persistence of infections caused by M. tuberculosis are not completely understood (Nathan, 2009;Lawn & Zumla, 2011).M. tuberculosis is one of the most successful human pathogens.It has evolved diverse strategies to ensure growth and survival inside the hostile environment of macrophages, its primary host cells (Ehrt & Schnappinger, 2009;Meena & Rajni, 2010).The molecular mechanisms of M. tuberculosis pathogenesis are under active investigation, since they could provide the basis for a rationalized drug design.These include inhibition of phagosome maturation into phagolysosomes (Armstrong & Hart, 1971;MacMicking et al., 2003), inhibition of the acidification of Mycobacterium-harboring phagosomes (Sturgill-Koszycki et al., 1994), DNA repair and protein repair or degradation (Boshoff et al., 2003;Gandotra et al., 2007;Lee et al., 2009), as well as decomposition of cytotoxic reactive nitrogen and oxygen species formed upon phagocytosis (Nathan & Shiloh, 2000; Shiloh & Nathan, 2000;Bedard & Krause, 2007).These should be considered as complementary survival mechanisms.Herein, we will focus in the antioxidant systems of M. tuberculosis, and particularly, in thioldependent peroxidases. Formation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species by activated macrophagesUpon phagocytosis, NADPH oxidase (NADPHox) assembles into an enzymatically active complex that transfers electrons from NADPH to molecular oxygen producing superoxide www.intechopen.com
Source: InTech eBooks
DOI: 10.5772/32330
Authors: Martn Hugo, Rafael Radi, Madia Trujillo
Institution: Universidad de la República de Uruguay
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W1543665785