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Review
. 2024 May 4:36:100451.
doi: 10.1016/j.jctube.2024.100451. eCollection 2024 Aug.

Effects of non-tuberculous mycobacteria on BCG vaccine efficacy: A narrative review

Fatemeh Ghasemi  1 , Jalil Kardan-Yamchi  2 , Mohsen Heidary  3 , Morteza Karami-Zarandi  4 , Sousan Akrami  5 , Abbas Maleki  6 , Saeed Khoshnood  6   7 , Hossein Kazemian  6   7
Affiliations
Review

Effects of non-tuberculous mycobacteria on BCG vaccine efficacy: A narrative review

Fatemeh Ghasemi et al. J Clin Tuberc Other Mycobact Dis. .

Abstract

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterial pathogen is responsible for the ongoing global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), the only currently approved TB vaccine, is successful in preventing disseminated disease in newborns. However, it has a variable efficacy against pulmonary TB in adults. This protective effect of the vaccine varies greatly among different populations and geographical areas, which the increased exposure of particular populations to non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is considered as one of the reasons for this issue. Numerous studies have shown that exposure to NTM species causes the host immune system to be improperly primed. It has also been suggested that NTM species may be blamed for reduction in BCG vaccine effectiveness against M. tuberculosis. The increased exposure of certain populations to NTM has diverse effects on BCG efficacy. Moreover, the exposure to NTM can induce opposite effects on BCG efficacy depending on the NTM exposure route and survivability. A detailed understanding of the impact of NTM exposure on the efficacy of the BCG vaccine is essential for ongoing efforts to develop new TB vaccines as it may ultimately be a crucial success factor. The aim of this study was to review the findings of the studies focusing on the effects of NTM on BCG vaccine efficacy in animal models.

Keywords: BCG; NTM; Non-tuberculous mycobacteria; TB; Tuberculosis; Vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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