Tuberculin skin test negativity is under tight genetic control of chromosomal region 11p14-15 in settings with different tuberculosis endemicities. J Infect Dis 2014;doi

A substantial proportion of subjects exposed to a contagious tuberculosis case display lack of tuberculin skin test (TST) re-activity.We previously mapped a major locus (TST1) control-ling lack of TST reactivity in families from an area in South Africa where tuberculosis is hyperendemic. Here, we con-ducted a household tuberculosis contact study in a French area where the endemicity of tuberculosis is low. A genome-wide analysis of TST negativity identified a significant linkage signal (P < 3 × 10−5) in close vicinity of TST1. Combined analysis of the 2 samples increased evidence of linkage (P = 2.4 × 10−6), further implicating genetic factors located on 11p14-15. This region overlaps the TNF1 locus controlling mycobacteria-driven tumor necrosis factor α production