Host Immune Pathways to Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

In the post-COVID-19 era, tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remains of global concern given the high mortality rates of infectious diseases caused by single pathogens.This has created an urgent need to develop new therapeutic paradigms, i.e., host-directed therapeutics, which can be achieved using several strategies involving host-protective immune system components and pathways.These include the formation of protective granulomas by macrophages, which are the main guardian cells of the innate immune system; balanced regulation of the pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokine networks; and autophagy, which is a lysosome-dependent catabolic process that degrades intracytoplasmic cargos, including intracellular Mtb.In this review, we briefly discuss recent insights into the host innate immune mechanisms that control intracellular Mtb infections, including regulation of granuloma formation, and the roles played by crucial cytokines and autophagy in host-Mtb interactions.A deeper understanding of molecular strategies that might improve anti-Mtb responses would facilitate the development of novel and improved therapeutics based on knowledge of the tug-of-war between the host and the pathogen.