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- MTB L-forms suppression
Dear authors,
There is no single word in your article about L-forms of MTB. Besides, this problem is strongly underestimated in current research. MTB possesses polymorphism, i.e. it can loose cell wall and convert in morphologically different, but genetically identical L-form under stress conditions. Investigations of this problem were conducted in Russia 40 years ago [1]. More recent research from Bulgarian team can be seen in [2]. Latent tuberculosis infection in vivo in most cases persists as L-form [1]. So, any investigation on suppression of MTB should check for influence of the drug on conversion of MTB in L-forms and influence on persistence of L-forms, as they may revert to classic MTB or cause another set of diseases such as endovasculitis or glomerulonephritis [3].
Sincerely yours,
Yuri Kalambet,
PhD Biophysics
Ampersand Ltd.
Research scientist1. Zemskova ZS, Dorozhkova I. Latent Tuberculosis Infection (in Russian). Moscow: Meditsina; 1984
2. Markova N, Slavchev G, Michailova L. Unique biological properties of Mycobacterium tuberculosis L-form variants: Impact for survival under stress. Int Microbiol. 2012;15(2):61-68. doi:10.2436/20.1501.01.159.
3. Yakovleva G. Paratuberculous nephritis (in Russian). Clinical Medicine, 2002; 9:37-43Competing Interests: None declared.
