Lac-TB

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Investigating the role of lactate during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection

• IRAS ID

  278536

• Contact name

  Claudio Mauro

• Contact email

  c.mauro@bham.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Birmingham

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Tuberculosis (TB) represents a major public health crisis. New treatments are urgently needed and host-directed therapeutics, in which drugs target factors in our body to boost our immune defences, are a promising strategy.
  Our immune cells need energy to fight the infection. In this process, sugars can be used and generate a product called lactate. It is not well known how lactate impacts the effectiveness of our immune cells and their capacity to resolve infection.
  This project aims to investigate the crosstalk between energy-generating processes (metabolism) and immune responses that occur during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, focusing on the role of lactate.
  We will invite individuals infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (both with latent infection and active tuberculosis disease) attending their routine visits at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Birmingham Chest Clinic to join our project. They will be given written information to read, and will have time to ask questions. If they agree to participate, they will need to sign a consent form. One blood sample (equivalent to 1 tablespoonful) will be collected from them. For active TB patients, if doctors require a sample of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), a small extra volume will be taken for the present study (which involves no extra risk).

  We will add immune stimulants to the blood/BAL to see which immune and metabolic circuits are activated. This will help us understanding how the immune and metabolic functions work together in the context of tuberculosis, and the consequences this may have for the individuals being able to control the infection or not.
  A deep understanding of how immune and metabolic pathways are perturbed during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection could reveal new targets for therapy, which would help eradicating the tuberculosis epidemic.

• REC name

  London - Brent Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  20/LO/0732

• Date of REC Opinion

  3 Jul 2020

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion