Application of Transcriptomics to Enhance Early Diagnostics of Mycobacterial Infections, with an Emphasis on Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis

Abstract

Mycobacteria cause a wide variety of disease in human and animals. Species that infect ruminants include M. bovis and M. avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP). MAP is the causative agent of Johne’s disease in ruminants, which is a chronic granulomatous enteric infection that leads to severe economic losses worldwide. Characteristic of MAP infection is the long, latent phase in which intermittent shedding can take place, while diagnostic tests are unable to reliably detect an infection in this stage. This leads to unnoticed dissemination within herds and the presence of many undetected, silent carriers, which makes the eradication of Johne’s disease difficult. To improve the control of MAP infection, research is aimed at improving early diagnosis. Transcriptomic approaches can be applied to characterize host-pathogen interactions during infection, and to develop novel biomarkers using transcriptional profiles. Studies have focused on the identification of specific RNAs that are expressed in different infection stages, which will assist in the development and clinical implementation of early diagnostic tests.

Health Professionals’ Knowledge of Probiotics: An International Survey

“…In contrast, less than two thirds of nurses and midwives (61.3%) and psychologists (57.9%) had heard of the probiotic strains of Bifidobacterium bifidum . Mycobacterium avium does not contain any probiotic strains and is an opportunistic pathogen, and was well known among all surveyed health professionals [28]. Lactobacillus rhamnosus is a somewhat less well-known species containing probiotic strains.…”

“…The only yeast species mentioned in our survey that contains probiotic strains, Saccharomyces boulardii , was recognized in a lower percentage by the surveyed health professionals, mainly by the surveyed pharmacists and medical doctors, and recognized by more male than female respondents. On the other hand, a few respondents added M. avium as a species that also contained probiotic strains, even though M. avium is an opportunistic pathogen, mainly in animals, and no probiotic strains are known [28].…”

Detection of latent forms of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection using host biomarker-based ELISAs greatly improves paratuberculosis diagnostic sensitivity

“…The potential of emerging -omic approaches to complement and enhance the diagnosis of MAP infection in cattle has been previously reviewed [23]. Host biomarkers, identified using transcriptomics and proteomics, have been proposed as tools to develop novel diagnostic methods for PTB [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. However, the application of those biomarkers for PTB diagnosis has yet to be developed and properly validated for naturally infected cattle in various stages of infection [37].…”

Developing smarter vaccines for paratuberculosis: From early biomarkers to vaccine design

“…70 Advances in transcriptomic technologies are likely to provide new information on pathways that are important when training innate cells to retain a protective response. 26,71 We have recently identified serum microRNA biomarkers for resilience and their associated functional immune pathways (unpublished data). The design of future studies should include clear characterization of resilience to paratuberculosis.…”