Authors: Olivier Neyrolles, Rogelio Hernández-Pando, France Pietri-Rouxel, Paul Fornès, Ludovic Tailleux, Jorge Alberto Barrios Payán, Elisabeth Pivert, Yann Bordat, Diane Aguilar, Marie-Christine Prévost, Caroline Petit, Brigitte Gicquel
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000043
Abstract Summary
Researchers discovered that tuberculosis bacteria can hide in fat tissue throughout the body, potentially explaining how TB persists for years and why some cases reactivate outside the lungs. TB DNA was found in adipose tissue from multiple organs in deceased individuals. Lab studies showed the bacteria enter fat cells, survive without replicating, and resist standard antibiotics—suggesting fat tissue may be a vast, overlooked reservoir for dormant TB infection.
Why Brain? 🧠
TB bacteria may hide in fat tissue throughout the body, surviving in a dormant state resistant to standard drugs, potentially explaining latent infections and extrapulmonary disease reactivation.
License: CC BY.
The image is AI-generated for illustrative purposes only. Courtesy of Midjourney.
