New study: Carbon monoxide provides energy for tuberculosis bacteria

The study, led by Chris Grening, an associate professor at Monash University in Australia, found that mycobacteria, which cause serious diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy, can live on carbon monoxide in the absence of "food." The researchers found that the bacteria tend to be in a harsh environment that lacks nutrients during infection, and that converting carbon monoxide into "food" is a way for them to survivestudy found that it was carbon monoxide dehydrogenase that helps mycobacteria get energy from carbon monoxide, which, while not enough energy to allow bacteria to multiply, allows them to survive in the body for a considerable amount of timeThe findings have been published in the new issue of the journal ISME, an ecology journal of Nature Publishing Grouptuberculosis-causing mycobacterium can sleep in the body for many years, during which time the patient usually has no symptoms, but when the patient's immune function is low, the TB outbreak can be fullyResearchers believe that carbon monoxide may be the source of energy for mycobacterium tuberculosis when it is dormant in the human bodyresearchers have found that human immune cells produce small amounts of carbon monoxide, and that mycobacterium tuberculosis may be used as a source of energy to survive in the body's lungs for long periods of timeThe findings help to develop better methods for combating global infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.