Tuberculosis (TB) remains an important public health problem and one of the leading causes of death. Individuals with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) have an increased risk of developing active TB. The problem of the diagnosis of the various stages of TB and the identification of infected patients in the early stages has not yet been solved. The existing tests (the tuberculin skin test and the interferon-gamma release assay) are useful to distinguish between active and latent infections. But these tests cannot be used to predict the development of active TB in individuals with LTBI. The purpose of this review was to analyze the extant data of the interaction of M. tuberculosis with immune cells and identify molecular predictive markers and markers of the early stages of TB. An analysis of more than 90 sources from the literature allowed us to determine various subpopulations of immune cells involved in the pathogenesis of TB, namely, macrophages, dendritic cells, B lymphocytes, T helper cells, cytotoxic T lymphocytes, and NK cells. The key molecular markers of the immune response to M. tuberculosis are cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-17, IL-22b, IFNɣ, TNFa, and TGFß), matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-3, and MMP-9), and their inhibitors (TIMP-1, TIMP-2, TIMP-3, and TIMP-4). It is supposed that these molecules could be used as biomarkers to characterize different stages of TB infection, to evaluate the effectiveness of its treatment, and as targets of pharmacotherapy.
Keywords: cytokines; diagnostics; immune cells; latent tuberculosis infection; matrix metalloproteinases; tuberculosis.