[Advances in genome-wide association study of tuberculosis].

Abstract

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), is one of the oldest and most influential diseases in the history due to its devastating effect on health and high mortality rate worldwide. Tuberculosis causes more human deaths than any other single infectious disease and the incidence of the tuberculosis is increasing dramatically in recent years. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) has been used to delineate the genetic basis of tuberculosis, and several susceptibility genes and loci were found, which provids important clues to the early intervention and treatment of tuberculosis. However, due to difference in the population structure and host-pathogen interactions, GWAS on tuberculosis faces great challenges. In this review, we introduced the achievements of GWAS on tuberculosis, and illustrated challenges and strategies in the future study.