Analyzing the impact of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection on primary human macrophages by combined exploratory and targeted metabolomics

The pathogenic success of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is tightly linked to its ability to recalibrate host metabolic processes in infected host macrophages. Since changes in cellular metabolic intermediates or pathways also affect macrophage function in response to pathogens, we sought to analyse specific metabolic alterations induced by Mtb infection. Stimulation of macrophages with Mtb lysate or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced a relative increase in glycolysis versus oxidative phosphorylation. Cellular metabolomics revealed that Mtb infection induced a distinct metabolic profile compared to LPS in both M1 and M2 macrophages. Specifically, Mtb infection resulted in elevated intracellular levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)), creatine, creatine phosphate and glutathione compared to uninfected control macrophages. Correspondingly, RNA-sequencing datasets showed altered gene expression of key metabolic enzymes involved in NAD(+), creatine, glucose and glutamine metabolism (e.g NAMPT, SLC6A8, HK2) in Mtb-infected M2 macrophages. These findings demonstrate clear modulation of host macrophage metabolic pathways by Mtb infection.