Int'l Centre for Genetic Eng. and Biotechnology 26d ago

From ICGEB New Delhi: Watch the highlights of our recently published research. Research from the #TranslationalHealth Group. Published in the Journal "Aging", the paper, entitled "Host immunosenescence compromises Mycobacterium tuberculosis clearance" focuses on why older adults are more vulnerable to tuberculosis (TB), partly because the immune system becomes less effective with age. In this study, researchers investigated how ageing affects the body’s ability to clear Mycobacterium tuberculosis during antibiotic treatment. Using young, old, and aged mice, they found that although infection levels were initially similar across age groups, older mice were slower to eliminate the bacteria from their lungs after treatment with standard TB drugs. Further analysis revealed age-related changes in immune cell populations and signs of disrupted mitochondrial function in activated T cells, suggesting that ageing alters the metabolic processes that support effective immune responses. These findings indicate that immunometabolic dysfunction may contribute to poorer TB treatment outcomes in older individuals and highlight new opportunities to improve therapy by targeting age-related changes in immune cell metabolism.