Hydrogen sulfide heightens disease in tuberculosis, suggesting a new therapeutic target.

[2greys]

A new culprit — hydrogen sulfide — has been found for the deadly infectious disease tuberculosis. Hydrogen sulfide gas is known for its rotten egg smell, yet it has normal physiological roles in the human body to communicate among cells.

When tuberculosis bacteria invade the lung, however, the amounts of hydrogen sulfide in the lung microenvironment appear to greatly increase, and this makes the microbe more virulent and better able to block the body’s protective immune response.

uab.edu/news/research/item/...

[Ergendl]

Interesting. You can sometimes detect that smell on a person's breath.