Genomic characteristics of prospectively sequenced Mycobacterium tuberculosis from respiratory and non-respiratory sources

Xiaomei Zhang; Connie Lam; Eby Sim; Elena Martinez; Taryn Crighton; Ben J Marais; Vitali Sintchenko

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.110327

Genomic characteristics of prospectively sequenced Mycobacterium tuberculosis from respiratory and non-respiratory sources

iScience. 2024 Jun 20;27(7):110327. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110327. eCollection 2024 Jul 19.

Authors

Xiaomei Zhang^{1

2

3}, Connie Lam^{2

3}, Eby Sim^{2

3}, Elena Martinez^{2

3

4}, Taryn Crighton^{3

4}, Ben J Marais^{1

2}, Vitali Sintchenko^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Research Excellence in Tuberculosis (TB-CRE), Centenary Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
² Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute (Sydney ID), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology-Public Health, Westmead Hospital, Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ NSW Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory, Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology-Laboratory Services, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, NSW Health Pathology, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Abstract

Understanding the differences between Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from respiratory and non-respiratory sources may inform clinical care and control strategies. We examined demographic and genomic characteristics of all culture-confirmed M. tuberculosis cultures isolated from respiratory and non-respiratory sources in New South Wales, Australia, from January 2017 to December 2021, using logistic regression models. M. tuberculosis strains from 1,831 patients were sequenced; 64.7% were from respiratory, 32.1% from non-respiratory, and 2.2% from both sources. Female patients had more frequent isolation from a non-respiratory source (p = 0.03), and older adults (≧65 years) from a respiratory source (p < 0.0001). Lineage 2 strains were relatively over-represented among respiratory isolates (p = 0.01). Among 39 cases with sequenced isolates from both sources, 43.6% had 1-10 single nucleotide polymorphism differences. The finding that older adults were more likely to have M. tuberculosis isolated from respiratory sources has relevance for TB control given the expected rise of TB among older adults.

Keywords: Genomics; Microbiology.