Researchers Reveal Possible Links Between TB and Behçet Disease

Genetic and biomarker data reveals tuberculosis exposure is a risk factor for patients with Behçet disease, researchers recently reported.

Although clear association of a particular pathogen with human noninfectious uveitis conditions has not been well established, some previous research appears to support the hypothesis that noninfectious uveitis may be caused by an immune response to some infectious agents.

To evaluate the association between tuberculosis infection and heightened risk of noninfectious uveitis conditions, including Behçet disease, researchers analyzed genetic data of a Chinese cohort enrolled between April 2008 and January 2018 and a Japanese cohort enrolled between January 2002 and June 2009. They recruited participants for a tuberculosis blood test (T-SPOT.TB, Oxford Immunotec) between July and November 2019.

The Chinese cohort included 999 patients with uveitis associated with Behçet disease, 1585 patients with other uveitis conditions, and 4417 control participants. The Japanese cohort included 611 patients with Behçet disease, and 737 controls. The group given T-SPOT.TB analysis included 116 individuals with Behçet disease and 121 control participants. Data for this study were collected between July 2019 and January 2020.

“Genetically determined tuberculosis susceptibility was associated with an increased risk for Behçet disease,” the authors wrote. The odds ratio for Behçet disease per 2-fold increase in tuberculosis incidence was 1.26, while the Japanese cohort showed an odds ratio of 1.16.

“Positive results on the T-SPOT.TB assays, indicating a history of tuberculosis infection, was found to be an independent risk factor for Behçet disease (OR, 2.26 [95% CI, 1.11-4.60]),” the researchers found. “These human genetic and biomarker data demonstrated that tuberculosis exposure was a risk factor for Behçet disease.”

--Angelique Platas

Reference:

Zhong Z, Su G, Zhou Q, et al. Tuberculosis exposure with risk of Behçet disease among patients with uveitis. JAMA Ophthalmol. Published online first February 18, 2021. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2020.6985