Large-scale genomic analysis shows association between homoplastic genetic variation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes and meningeal or pulmonary tuberculosis

Meningitis is the most severe manifestation of tuberculosis. It is largely unknown why some people develop pulmonary TB (PTB) and others TB meningitis (TBM); we examined if the genetic background of infecting M. tuberculosis strains may be relevant.This study was supported by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). [09-PD-14 to RvC]; fellowship from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) and The Netherlands Foundation for Scientific Research [VIDI grant. 017.106.310 to RvC., and VIDI grant 864.14.004 to BED.]; and Radboud University fellowship [to CR]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. This study was also supported by the TANDEM (Tuberculosis and Diabetes Mellitus) Grant of the ECFP7 (European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme) under Grant Agreement no. 305279