About this Research Topic

Background

It is estimated that millions of people worldwide suffer from tuberculosis (TB), although some of these patients may remain undiagnosed and untreated. The strategies for diagnosing, treating, and controlling TB may not be as effective as they could be. Drug-resistant strains, including multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), have made the problem worse. Most patients infected with resistant strains are treated with very expensive and toxic drugs over an extended period, which has low therapeutic success and high mortality rates. In this regard, microbiota plays an important role but has not been thoroughly investigated. "The gut-lung axis" has been described as a close immunological link between the intestinal and respiratory microbiota. Gut-lung axis refers to the influence of intestinal microbiota on lung immunity and vice versa. Therefore, altering the microbiota community in the intestinal and/or respiratory systems and causing TB infection may be correlated. The development of microbiota analysis may result in more effective targeted therapeutics and control strategies against TB. Thus, presenting an overview of the correlation between microbiota and drug resistance that occurs during TB infection can open new doors to improving control of TB infection while stressing that further evaluations are needed.

This research topic aims to encourage authors to send us their studies on microbiota and their connection to tuberculosis and drug resistance. Our goal is primarily to highlight the importance of the gut-lung axis for tuberculosis progression or prevention, the role of the human microbiota in drug resistance in tuberculosis strains, and the importance of human microbiota for improving control strategies for infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. Despite the focus on M. tuberculosis, studies related to various strains of the Mycobacteriaceae family can also be included.

In this Research Topic, we will explore the relationship between human microbiota and drug resistance in tuberculosis infections. Article types such as original research, reviews and mini-reviews can be included in this research topic.

Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Drug resistance, Microbiota, Gut-lung axis

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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