The impact of human single nucleotide polymorphisms on Bacillus Calmette-Guérin responses

Nicole L Messina; Mihai G Netea; Nigel Curtis

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.07.032

The impact of human single nucleotide polymorphisms on Bacillus Calmette-Guérin responses

Vaccine. 2020 Sep 11;38(40):6224-6235. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.07.032. Epub 2020 Aug 18.

Authors

Nicole L Messina¹, Mihai G Netea², Nigel Curtis³

Affiliations

¹ Infectious Diseases & Microbiology Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia. Electronic address: nicole.messina@mcri.edu.au.
² Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Department for Genomics & Immunoregulation, Life and Medical Sciences Institute (LIMES), University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany; Human Genomics Laboratory, Craiova University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova, Romania.
³ Infectious Diseases & Microbiology Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Infectious Diseases Unit, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.

PMID: 32826104
DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.07.032

Abstract

The influence of genetic variability on human immune responses has major implications for the understanding of disease mechanisms and host-pathogen interactions. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, which is given globally to protect against tuberculosis, has high variability in its protective efficacy against mycobacteria and its beneficial off-target (heterologous) effects. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are major cause of genetic variation and have been strongly associated with susceptibility to tuberculosis and outcomes following BCG immunotherapy for cancer. This review discusses the contribution of SNPs to the variability in mycobacterial-specific and off-target BCG responses, and the implications for this on development of novel TB vaccines and strategies to harness the beneficial off-target effects of BCG.

Keywords: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin; Heterologous immunity; Immune regulation; Single nucleotide polymorphism; Tuberculosis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

BCG Vaccine
Humans
Mycobacterium bovis* / genetics
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
Tuberculosis Vaccines*
Tuberculosis* / prevention & control

Substances

BCG Vaccine
Tuberculosis Vaccines