Kumar NP, Kathamuthu GR, Moideen K, Banurekha VV, Nair D, Fay MP, Nutman TB, Babu S. Strongyloides stercoralis Coinfection Is Associated With Greater Disease Severity, Higher Bacterial Burden, and Elevated Plasma Matrix Metalloproteinases in Pulmonary Tuberculosis.
J Infect Dis 2021;
222:1021-1026. [PMID:
32307511 DOI:
10.1093/infdis/jiaa194]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Helminths and tuberculosis (TB) largely overlap at the population level. Whether helminth infections influence disease severity and bacterial burdens in TB is not well understood.
METHODS
This study was conducted to examine the disease severity in a cohort of pulmonary TB (PTB) individuals with (Ss+) or without (Ss-) seropositivity for Strongyloides stercoralis infection.
RESULTS
Ss+ was associated with increased risk of cavitation (odds ratio [OR], 4.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.33-9.04; P < .0001) and bilateral lung involvement (OR, 5.97; 95% CI, 3.03-12.09; P < .0001) in PTB individuals. Ss+ was also associated with higher bacterial burdens (OR, 7.57; 95% CI, 4.18-14.05; P < .0001) in PTB individuals. After multivariate analysis adjusting for covariates, Ss+ was still associated with greater risk of cavitation (adjusted OR [aOR], 3.99; 95% CI, 1.73-9.19; P = .0014), bilateral lung involvement (aOR, 4.09; 95% CI, 1.78-9.41; P = .0011), and higher bacterial burden (aOR, 9.32; 95% CI, 6.30-13.96; P < .0001). Finally, Ss+ was also associated with higher plasma levels of matrix metalloproteinases ([MMP]-1, -2, -7, -8, and -9) in PTB individuals.
CONCLUSIONS
Therefore, our data demonstrate that coexistent Ss infection is associated with greater disease severity and higher bacterial burden in PTB. Our data also demonstrate enhanced plasma levels of MMPs in coinfected individuals, suggesting a plausible biological mechanism for these effects.
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