Outbreaks of Mycobacterium tuberculosis MDR strains differentially induce neutrophil respiratory burst involving lipid rafts, p38 MAPK and Syk

Background Neutrophils (PMN) are the first cells to infiltrate the lung after infection, and they play a significant protective role in the elimination of pathogen, by releasing preformed oxidants and proteolytic enzymes from granules and generating ROS, thus limiting inflammation by succumbing to apoptosis. In a previous study, we found marked differences in ROS-induced apoptosis between two Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains, M and Ra, representative of widespread Mtb families in South America, i.e. Haarlem and Latin-American Mediterranean (LAM), being strain M able to generate further drug resistance and to disseminate aggressively.