Lung and gut microbiota in Mtb infection and BCG vaccination.

Although the BCG vaccine has been the most widely administered vaccine worldwide and has been used for more than 100 years, tuberculosis disease remains uncontrolled and highly prevalent, especially in developing countries. Several questions pertaining to tuberculosis immunopathogenesis remain unanswered. These questions are critical for developing new approaches to better control the disease. One important question is the effect of Mtb infections and BCG immunization on the structure, diversity, and potential function of the lung and gut host microbiota. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize the effect of BCG vaccination and Mtb infection on lung and gut microbiota of C57BL/6 mice, a well-characterized mouse model of tuberculosis.