Shetty S, Pappachan JM, Fernandez CJ. Diabetes and tuberculosis: An emerging dual threat to healthcare. World J Diabetes 2024; 15(7): 1409-1416 [PMID: 39099826 DOI: 10.4239/wjd.v15.i7.1409]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Joseph M Pappachan, MD, FRCP, Academic Editor, Professor, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Sharoe Green Lane, Preston PR2 9HT, United Kingdom. drpappachan@yahoo.co.in
Research Domain of This Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Diabetes. Jul 15, 2024; 15(7): 1409-1416 Published online Jul 15, 2024. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v15.i7.1409
Diabetes and tuberculosis: An emerging dual threat to healthcare
Sahana Shetty, Joseph M Pappachan, Cornelius James Fernandez
Sahana Shetty, Department of Endocrinology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
Joseph M Pappachan, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Preston PR2 9HT, United Kingdom
Joseph M Pappachan, Faculty of Science, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, United Kingdom
Joseph M Pappachan, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
Cornelius James Fernandez, Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Pilgrim Hospital, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Boston PE21 9QS, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Shetty S and Fernandez CJ wrote the initial draft of the manuscript with some help from Pappachan JM by performing literature search, interpretation of relevant scientific data, and compiling the best evidence; Fernandez CJ also contributed to the critical revision, important intellectual content and figure preparation for the paper; Pappachan JM contributed to the conceptual design of the paper and provided additional input to the drafting, literature review, revision and modifications of the paper; all the authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Professor Joseph M Pappachan and co-authors have no conflicts to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Joseph M Pappachan, MD, FRCP, Academic Editor, Professor, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Sharoe Green Lane, Preston PR2 9HT, United Kingdom. drpappachan@yahoo.co.in
Received: March 4, 2024 Revised: April 21, 2024 Accepted: April 24, 2024 Published online: July 15, 2024 Processing time: 125 Days and 18.8 Hours
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a huge global healthcare challenge even in the 21st century though the prevalence has dropped in developed countries in recent decades. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an important risk factor for the development and perpetuation of TB owing to the immune dysfunction in patients with DM. The coexistence of both diseases in the same individual also aggravates disease severity, complications, and chance of treatment failure because of gross immune alterations posed by DM as well as TB. Various complex cellular and humoral immunological factors are involved in the dangerous interaction between TB and DM, some of which remain unknown even today. It is highly important to identify the risk factors for TB in patients with DM, and vice versa, to ensure early diagnosis and management to prevent complications from this ominous coexistence. In their research study published in the recent issue of the World Journal of Diabetes, Shi et al elaborate on the factors associated with the development of TB in a large cohort of DM patients from China. More such research output from different regions of the world is expected to improve our knowledge to fight the health devastation posed by TB in patients with diabetes.
Core Tip: Tuberculosis (TB) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are two common diseases especially highly prevalent in developing countries. Diabetes is an important risk factor for the development and perpetuation of TB owing to the immune dysfunction in patients with DM, whereas TB-related cellular and immunological alterations can worsen diabetes control. It is crucial to identify the risk factors for TB in patients with DM and vice versa to ensure prompt diagnosis and optimal management. Shi et al recently elaborated the factors associated with development of TB in DM cases in a recent issue of World Journal of Diabetes. Such research data is expected to improve our knowledge to fight against these dangerous diseases.
