Tuberculosis (TB) a contagious, airborne infectious disease that destroys body tissue is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Pulmonary TB occurs when M. tuberculosis primarily infects the lungs. However, it may spread to other organs also. Pulmonary TB is curable with an early diagnosis and antibiotic treatment and had medications available.
Pulmonary TB, also known as consumption, spread widely as an epidemic during the 18th and 19th centuries in North America and Europe. After the discovery of antibiotics like streptomycin, along with improved lifestyles and standards, doctors were able to provide better treatment and control the widespread of this contagious disease.
This disease is often associated with impaired immunological functions. White blood cells, which can differentiate into dendritic cells upon cytokine stimulation, play a crucial role in adequate immune activity.
Thus, there is a fundamental defect in the differentiation and maturation of dendritic cells during the pulmonary tuberculosis disease that may compromise the antigen presentation and subsequent immune functions.