The persistence of Mycobacterium tuberculosisаs the basis of latent tuberculosis (review)

SummaryThe review provides a brief description of latent tuber-culosis and its significance in the occurrence of new cas-es due to reactivation of M. tuberculosis in the body in a state of persistence. Mechanisms of development of persistence as a strategy of survival of MBT in adverse conditions are stated. Of mechanisms of development and persistence should be allocated a dormant "hi-bernation" with a lack of replication. Drug tolerance, phenotypic resistance, which differs from genetically determined drug resistance in that persistent mycobac-teria with sharply reduced metabolism simply do not respond to antibacterial drugs. L-transformation with complete or partial loss of the cell wall, and therefore the most powerful stimulus of the immune system pep-tidoglycan, which makes the L-form as if "invisible" to the factors of immune protection, as well as other meth-ods of evasion from immune systems. QUORUM SENS-ING, a sense of quorum that allows the MBT to behave like a multicellular organism and form a protective bio-film. Genetic and other adaptation factors, of which Mtb persistence is an integral part, may be targeted for the treatment of latent tuberculosis