Investigating the impact of the pulmonary Innate Immune Response and microbiome after exposure to Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

Research summary

Tuberculosis (TB) kills more people than any other single infectious disease. We really need an effective vaccine to prevent people getting TB, but we don’t understand what sort of immune response is needed to protect people. The very early responses in TB infection, is not well understood, partly because it is difficult to study as most of the changes happen before people get symptoms. This study has been designed to help to answer two key questions about the early immune responses to TB: 1.What is the early immune response to TB, and how does it vary between people? We will use samples of sputum from people who have recently been living with someone with an active TB infection. We will measure the type of immune cells present in these samples and how they change over time, comparing what we find with blood results. This will help us to build a picture of what is happening both in the airways (the tubes of the lungs) and in the blood during the early immune responses to TB. 2.Does the microbiome of the airway help in protecting people from TB? The immune system is constantly coming into contact with different bacteria which live on the surfaces of our bodies without causing infections; this is called the microbiome. The microbiome is also found on the linings of the airways. We will look at which bacteria are living in this microbiome, and see how these bacteria change over time. This will help us to get a better understanding of how the immune system and the microbiome work together, and if there is a role for the microbiome in preventing TB infections. The results could help us explain why some people are protected from TB, and find ways to develop treatments and vaccines that protect people.

Principal Investigator

Prof Helen McShane

Contact us

Email: vaccinetrials@ndm.ox.ac.uk

IRAS number

337148