Amerindian genetic ancestry as a risk factor for tuberculosis in an amazonian population

PLoS One. 2020 Jul 16;15(7):e0236033. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236033. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

In recent years, the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) has declined worldwide, although this disease still occurs at relatively high rates in Amerindian populations. This suggests that the genetic ancestry of Amerindians may be an important factor in the development of infections, and may account for at least some of the variation in infection rates in the different populations. The present study investigated the potential influence of Amerindian genetic ancestry on susceptibility to tuberculosis in an Amazon population. The study included 280 patients diagnosed with tuberculosis and 138 asymptomatic hospital employees with no history of TB, but who were in contact with bacterially active TB patients. Ancestry analysis was run on a set of 61 Ancestry-Informative Markers to estimate European, African, and Amerindian genetic ancestry using STRUCTURE v2.2. The TB group had significantly higher Amerindian ancestry in comparison with the control group, and significantly lower European ancestry. Amerindian ancestry in the 20-60% range was found to be the principal risk factor for increased susceptibility to TB. The results of the study indicate that Amerindian ancestry is an important risk factor for susceptibility to TB in the admixed population of the Brazilian Amazon region.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Black People / statistics & numerical data*
  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Female
  • Genetic Variation*
  • Genetics, Population*
  • Humans
  • Indians, South American / statistics & numerical data*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / genetics*
  • Tuberculosis / epidemiology*
  • Tuberculosis / genetics
  • Tuberculosis / microbiology
  • White People / statistics & numerical data*

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq), the Coordination for Higher Education Personnel Training (CAPES), the Amazonian Research Foundation (FAPESPA), and the Research and Extension faculties of the Federal University of Pará (PROPESP/PROEX/UFPA).