The week after a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student was diagnosed with tuberculosis, scientists at the Madison campus have discovered a protein that could aid in the development of a new medication to fight the human TB infection.
Researchers at UW-Madison, along with colleagues at Texas A&M University and University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, found the copper-repressing protein present in the bacterium that causes tuberculosis.
Once TB infects the body, it is attacked by the body's immune system. Cells called macrophages attack the bacterium with excess amounts of copper to kill it.
However, the TB bacterium defends itself effectively against this attack with a copper-repressing protein. It was this protein that the UW scientists helped discover.
According to Adel Talaat, a microbiologist at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, the knowledge of this protein will hopefully lead to medicines that help the body fend off the disease.
"Now we know how the bacterium is able to defend itself," Talaat said. "If we can develop medicines and anti-chemicals to target the protein's response, it will not allow the bacteria to recover from the immune cell attack — we're trying to give an advantage to the immune system."
The airborne bacteria often enter the body through inhalation; however, many people get a latent infection which shows no symptoms and is not contagious, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
Around 250,000 people in Wisconsin carry the latent TB infection. Twenty-seven active cases of TB were reported in Milwaukee County last year and 15 cases in Dane county. Those with an active infection are commonly treated with antibiotics.
The new scientific development comes on the heels of last week's news that an unnamed UW-Milwaukee student developed a TB infection. According to UWM Vice Chancellor for University Relations Tom Luljak, the student does not live on campus but was quarantined as a precaution after exposing the illness to a relatively small number of people.
To test if one has TB, a protein is injected into the skin. Depending on the size and shape of the resulting bump that forms, doctors can determine whether an individual is infected with TB.
All those that came into contact with the infected UWM student were given the test, and none were found to have the infection, Luljak said.
"The results of the tests that were conducted on students, faculty and staff have all come back negative," he said. "We have no evidence that any other individual on campus has been affected."
When asked about the current status of the infected student, whose age and name were not released to ensure privacy, Luljak said he did not know any medical specifics but indicated that the student in question has not returned to campus.
Milwaukee Health Department communications officer Raquel Filmanowicz said the student remains in isolation and on medication but could offer no further specifics.
Incidences of TB increased nationally between 1985 and 1992, but with further attention and increased funding, the number of cases gradually decreased. In 2003, 14,000 cases of TB were documented across the United States.
