Biology- Research Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Biology- Research Assignment - Essay Example Clinical symptoms of genitourinary TB include hematuria (blood in the urine), flank pain, urinary frequency, and painful urination (Herchline, 2012). Meanwhile, tuberculous meningitis results when the subependymally-located pathogen affects the subarachnoid space (Mohan and Sharma, 2004). Symptoms indicative of this disease presents with a 2-3 week exanthema consisting of low-grade fever, body malaise, and headache, which evolves to cause damage to the cerebral arteries and cranial nerves (Golden and Vikram, 2005). This may lead to hemeparesis, seizures, increased intracranial pressure, and coma. A common endocrine organ infected by M. tuberculosis is the adrenal glands, causing tuberculous Addison’s disease (Kelestimur, 2004). This results in adrenocortical deficiency which presents as body fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, nausea, decrease in blood pressure, and skin hyperpigmentation. Non-pulmonary tuberculosis is acquired when an individual is exposed to aerosols of a person with active pulmonary tuberculosis such as during sneezing, talking, or coughing (Fauci et al., 2008). When the organism is inhaled, it gets deposited in the airways but may not necessarily establish infection there. It may be carried hematogenously or through the lymphatics to the other parts of the body and infect other organs. In addition, primary pulmonary tuberculosis can spread to different organs via hematogenous dissemination especially in immunocompromised individuals like HIV-infected patients (Golden and Vikram, 2005). Once inside the body, the organism activates a macrophage-activating cell-mediated immune (CMI) response and tissue-damaging response (Fauci et al., 2008). The CMI results in activation of macrophages to engulf and supposedly kill the pathogen. However, M. tuberculosis is equipped with mechanisms that allow it to survive and multiply within the macrophages.