Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23308075›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in immunology2012

The granuloma in tuberculosis: dynamics of a host-pathogen collusion.

Stefan Ehlers, Ulrich E Schaible

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 202 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
202citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
8.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

202 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 340 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pathology of TB/COVID-19 Co-Infection: The phantom menace.Tuberculosis (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2021
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Tuberculosis in Pregnancy: Challenges of Immune Protection.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Molecular signaling in coinfection: howFrontiers in immunology · 2026
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Crosstalk betweenFrontiers in immunology · 2026
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

142 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Stefan EhlersPriority Research Area "Infections", Research Center Borstel Borstel, Germany ; Molecular Inflammation Medicine, Institute for Experimental Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Germany.
Ulrich E Schaible
Kiel University · DEResearch Center Borstel - Leibniz Lung Center · DE

Funding

Medical Research Council G0700163
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A granuloma is defined as an inflammatory mononuclear cell infiltrate that, while capable of limiting growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, also provides a survival niche from which the bacteria may disseminate. The tuberculosis lesion is highly dynamic and shaped by both, immune response elements and the pathogen. In the granuloma, M. tuberculosis switches to a non-replicating but energy-generating life style whose detailed molecular characterization can identify novel targets for chemotherapy. To secure transmission to a new host, M. tuberculosis has evolved to drive T cell immunity to the point that necrotizing granulomas leak into bronchial cavities to facilitate expectoration of bacilli. From an evolutionary perspective it is therefore questionable whether vaccination and immunity enhancing strategies that merely mimic the natural immune response directed against M. tuberculosis infection can overcome pulmonary tuberculosis in the adult population. Juxtaposition of molecular pathology and immunology with microbial physiology and the use of novel imaging approaches afford an integrative view of the granuloma's contribution to the life cycle of M. tuberculosis. This review revisits the different input of innate and adaptive immunity in granuloma biogenesis, with a focus on the co-evolutionary forces that redirect immune responses also to the benefit of the pathogen, i.e., its survival, propagation, and transmission.

Indexed as

evolutiongranulomaimmunopathologylife cycle stagespulmonarytuberculosis

Identifiers

PMID23308075
PMCPMC3538277
OpenAlexW2123506887

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.