Airway microbiome signature accurately discriminates Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection status

Abstract

<i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> remains one of the deadliest infectious agents globally. Amidst efforts to control TB, long treatment duration, drug toxicity, and resistance underscore the need for novel therapeutic strategies. Despite advances in understanding the interplay between microbiome and disease in humans, the specific role of the microbiome in predicting disease susceptibility and discriminating infection status in tuberculosis still needs to be fully investigated. We investigated the impact of <i>M.tb</i> infection and <i>M.tb</i>-specific IFNγ immune responses on airway microbiome diversity by performing TB GeneXpert and QuantiFERON-GOLD assays during the follow-up phase of a longitudinal HIV-Lung Microbiome cohort of individuals recruited from two large independent cohorts in rural Uganda. <i>M.tb</i> rather than IFNγ immune response mainly drove a significant reduction in airway microbiome diversity. A microbiome signature comprising <i>Streptococcus, Neisseria, Fusobacterium, Prevotella, Schaalia, Actinomyces, Cutibacterium</i>, <i>Brevibacillus</i>, <i>Microbacterium</i>, and <i>Beijerinckiacea</i> accurately discriminated active TB from Latent TB and <i>M.tb-</i>uninfected individuals.