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Usage Information

Tryptophan catabolism reflects disease activity in human tuberculosis
Jeffrey M. Collins, Amnah Siddiqa, Dean P. Jones, Ken Liu, Russell R. Kempker, Azhar Nizam, N. Sarita Shah, Nazir Ismail, Samuel G. Ouma, Nestani Tukvadze, Shuzhao Li, Cheryl L. Day, Jyothi Rengarajan, James C.M. Brust, Neel R. Gandhi, Joel D. Ernst, Henry M. Blumberg, Thomas R. Ziegler
Jeffrey M. Collins, Amnah Siddiqa, Dean P. Jones, Ken Liu, Russell R. Kempker, Azhar Nizam, N. Sarita Shah, Nazir Ismail, Samuel G. Ouma, Nestani Tukvadze, Shuzhao Li, Cheryl L. Day, Jyothi Rengarajan, James C.M. Brust, Neel R. Gandhi, Joel D. Ernst, Henry M. Blumberg, Thomas R. Ziegler
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Research Article Infectious disease Metabolism

Tryptophan catabolism reflects disease activity in human tuberculosis

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Abstract

There is limited understanding of the role of host metabolism in the pathophysiology of human tuberculosis (TB). Using high-resolution metabolomics with an unbiased approach to metabolic pathway analysis, we discovered that the tryptophan pathway is highly regulated throughout the spectrum of TB infection and disease. This regulation is characterized by increased catabolism of tryptophan to kynurenine, which was evident not only in active TB disease but also in latent TB infection (LTBI). Further, we found that tryptophan catabolism is reversed with effective treatment of both active TB disease and LTBI in a manner commensurate with bacterial clearance. Persons with active TB and LTBI also exhibited increased expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-1 (IDO-1), suggesting IDO-1 mediates observed increases in tryptophan catabolism. Together, these data indicate IDO-1–mediated tryptophan catabolism is highly preserved in the human response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and could be a target for biomarker development as well as host-directed therapies.

Authors

Jeffrey M. Collins, Amnah Siddiqa, Dean P. Jones, Ken Liu, Russell R. Kempker, Azhar Nizam, N. Sarita Shah, Nazir Ismail, Samuel G. Ouma, Nestani Tukvadze, Shuzhao Li, Cheryl L. Day, Jyothi Rengarajan, James C.M. Brust, Neel R. Gandhi, Joel D. Ernst, Henry M. Blumberg, Thomas R. Ziegler

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Usage data is cumulative from May 2025 through May 2026.

Usage JCI PMC
Text version 2,270 204
PDF 282 79
Figure 473 0
Table 58 0
Supplemental data 71 1
Citation downloads 133 0
Totals 3,287 284
Total Views 3,571
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