Investigation of the cell composition and gene expression in the delayed-type hypersensitivity tuberculin skin test

Dear Editor,The tuberculin skin test(TST)reagents have continuously improved,with the ESAT6-CFP10(EC)test having recently been introduced,but are seldom based on the direction of the delayed-type hypersensitivity(DTH)mechanism.Previous studies only partially showed the infiltration and activation of immune cells and the production of cytokines of the skin induration[1,2],and lack the detailed measurements of cell proportions and gene expression in the DTH response.Therefore,in this study,we revealed the comprehensive characteristics of DTH by single-cell RNA sequencing(scRNA-seq)in the guinea pig tuberculosis(TB)model[Experimental Animal Welfare Ethics Committee,Beijing Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Research Institute(2021-064)].

Changes of Anti-tuberculosis Herbs Formula during Past Three Decades in Contrast to Ancient Ones

Objective:To investigate the evolution of herbal medicine in treating tuberculosis(TB)and encourage anti-TB drug discovery and development.Methods:In this study,477 ancient traditional Chinese medicine formulae were collected from the Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine Prescriptions and 172 modern Chinese medicine formulae(from 1986 to 2016)were collected by searching 4 databases:Wan Fang Data Knowledge Service Platform,China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database(CNKI),China Science and Technology Journal Database(VIP)and Chinese Bio-medical Literature and Retrieval System(Sino Med)in Chinese.We restricted the search to publications in Chinese.Further data analysis was done using the Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Support System version 2 Software.Results:There were 425 herbs in the 477 ancient formulae and 257 herbs in the 172 modern formulae.Half of the top 30 herbs were shared by both modern and ancient prescriptions.They are Radix Ophiopogonis,Astragalus membranaceus,Fritillaria cirrhosa,Dried rehmannia glutinosa,Poria cocos,Angelica sinensis,Prepared rehmannia glutinosa,Platycodon Root,Radix paeoniae alba,Schisandra chinensis,Bighead atractylodes rhizome,Rhizoma anemarrhenae,Cortex lycii radicis and Radix Scutellariae.Only two groups of herbs with a high correlation coefficient were found in both modern and ancient prescriptions,the Dried rehmannia glutinosa with Radix ophiopogonis,and Radix ophiopogonis with Prepared rehmannia glutinosa.There were 9 and 15 core herb combinations in modern and ancient prescriptions,respectively,but no one was found simutaniously in both modern and ancient prescriptions.Conclusions:Although there were wide variations in the herb groups and herb combinations in the formulae,half of the top 30 herbs were found in both modern and ancient prescriptions.The core herb combinations in modern and ancient prescriptions could help us to improve the priscription for treatment of TB.

Characteristics of distribution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages in China

The genotyping methods of Mycobacterium tuberculosis would dramatically improve our understanding of the molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis. 3,929 isolates, from a National Survey of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in 2007 in China, were successfully genotyped by large sequence polymorphisms and 15 loci variable number tandem repeats. We found that 2,905(2,905/3,929, 73.9%) cases belonged to Lineage 2, dominated in the east and central regions, 975 cases(975/3,929, 24.8%) were Lineage 4, highly prevailed in the west regions, and 36 and 13 cases were Lineage 3 and Lineage 1, respectively. We also explored the associations between lineages(Lineage 2 vs. Lineage 4) and clinical characteristics by logistic regression. For Lineage 2, the risk factors were Han-ethnicity population and fever. However, for Lineage 4, they were occupation(farmer), and degree of education(non-literate). Fully understanding of the distribution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage and its risk factors would play a critical role in tuberculosis prevention, control, and treatment.