Isoniazid (INH), one of the most important drugs used in antituberculosis (anti-TB) treatment, is also the major drug involved in hepatotoxicity. Differences in INH-induced toxicity have been attributed to genetic variability at several loci, such as NAT2, CYP2E1, GSTM1 and GSTT1, that code for drug-metabolising enzymes. Our goal was to examine the polymorphisms in these enzymes as susceptibility factors to anti-TB drug-induced hepatitis in Brazilian individuals. In a case-control design, 167 unrelated active tuberculosis patients from the University Hospital of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were enrolled in this study. Patients with a history of anti-TB drug-induced acute hepatitis (cases with an increase to 3 times the upper limit of normal serum transaminases and symptoms of hepatitis) and patients with no evidence of anti-TB hepatic side effects (controls) were genotyped for NAT2, CYP2E1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms. Slow acetylators had a higher incidence of hepatitis than intermediate/rapid acetylators [22% (18/82) vs. 9.8% (6/61), odds ratio (OR), 2.86, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06-7.68, p = 0.04). Logistic regression showed that slow acetylation status was the only independent risk factor (OR 3.59, 95% CI, 2.53-4.64, p = 0.02) for the occurrence of anti-TB drug-induced hepatitis during anti-TB treatment with INH-containing schemes in Brazilian individuals.

INTRODUÇÃO: Fatores genéticos podem desempenhar um importante papel na susceptibilidade à tuberculose (TB) ativa, e polimorfismos de base única (SNPs) em diferentes genes que codificam para citocinas têm sido descritos e associados com doenças. OBJETIVOS: Investigar o quanto polimorfismo na região promotora do gene que codifica para TNF-alfa (-238 e -308) estão associados a ocorrência de TB ativa. MÉTODOS: SNPs dentro do gene de TNF-alfa foram analisados por PCR- RFLP em dois grupos de indivíduos: pacientes com TB (n = 234) e pacientes com pneumopatias não TB (n = 113). RESULTADOS: Neste estudo, o alelo -238A esteve associado significantemente com susceptibilidade à ocorrência de TB e gravidade das formas clínicas (p = 0,00002; OR = 0,15; IC = 0,06-0,36). Por outro lado, o alelo -308A esteve associado significantemente com a proteção a outras formas de doença pulmonar (p = 0,02; OR = 1,95; IC = 1,07-3,58). CONCLUSÕES: Estes resultados preliminares sugerem a importância de estudos genéticos na ocorrência da TB. São necessários outros estudos para melhorar a compreensão sobre a patogênese do M. tb.

BACKGROUND: Host genetic factors may play a role in the susceptibility to active tuberculosis (TB), and several polymorphisms in different cytokine coding genes have been described and associated with diseases to date. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether polymorphisms within the promoter region of the TNF-alpha (-238/-308) coding genes are associated to the occurrence of active TB. METHODS: SNPs within the TNF-alpha gene were analyzed by PCR-RFLP among two groups of individuals: patients with TB (n = 234, and patients non TB (n = 113). RESULTS: In this study, the presence of the -238A allele was associated with susceptibility to TB disease occurrence and severity (p = 0,00002; OR = 0,15; IC = 0,06-0,36. On the contrary, the -308A allele was associated with protection to the occurrence of another pulmonary diseases. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest the importance of genetics studies on TB occurrence. Further studies are needed pursuing a better understanding of the human pathogenesis of M. tb.

DNA samples from blood and nasal swabs of 125 healthy household contacts was submitted to amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using a Mycobacterium leprae-specific sequence as a target for the detection of subclinical infection with M. leprae.All samples were submitted to hybridization analysis in order to exclude any false positive or negative results. Two positive samples were confirmed from blood out of 119 (1.7%) and two positive samples from nasal secretion out of 120 (1.7%). The analysis of the families with positive individuals showed that 2.5% (n = 3) of the contacts were relatives of multibacilary patients while 0.8% of the cases (n = 1) had a paucibacilary as an index case. All positive contacts were followed up and after one year none of them presented clinical signs of the disease. In spite of the PCR sensitivity to detect the presence of the M. leprae in a subclinical stage, this molecular approach did not seem to be a valuable tool to screen household contacts, since we determined a spurious association of the PCR positivity and further development of leprosy.

Thirty eight patients with indeterminate leprosy (HI), at least 4 to 6 years after discharge from multibacillary (MB) or paucibacillary (PB) schemes of anti leprosy multidrug therapy (MDT), were submitted to traditional diagnostic procedures for leprosy and to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of different clinical samples for detection of Mycobacterium leprae DNA. No significant difference was observed for any of the parameters analyzed between PB or MB schemes of treatment and no indications were found for more efficient outcome of HI using the MB scheme. Remarkably, 18 (54.5%) of the individuals were PCR positive in at least one of the samples: positivity of PCR was highest in blood samples and four individuals were PCR positive in blood and some other sample. Upon comparison of PCR results with clinical and histopathological parameters, no correlation was found between PCR-positivity and eventual relapse. This is the first report on detection of M. leprae DNA in PB patients, more than half a decade after completion of MDT, suggesting that live bacilli are present and circulating much longer than expected, although reinfection of the individuals can not be excluded. Overall, we feel that because of the high sensitivity of the assay, extreme care should be taken about association of PCR results, efficacy of treatment and disease status.