Mycobacterium tuberculosis co-infection is associated with increased surrogate marker of the HIV reservoir
Jingna Xun, Tangkai Qi, Lei Zou, Qi Tang, Yinzhong Shen, Junyang Yang, Luman Xie, Yongjia Ji, Renfang Zhang, Li Liu, Jiangrong Wang, Corky Steinhart, Zhenyan Wang, Ting Yang, Wei Song, Jianjun Sun, Juan Cheng, Xiaoqin Le, Huanmei Wu, Xiaoqing He, Rong Chen, Jun Chen, Hongzhou Lu
Abstract
Abstract Background Tuberculosis (Tb) is the most frequent opportunistic infection among people living with HIV infection. The impact of Tb co-infection in the establishment and maintenance of the HIV reservoir is unclear. Method We enrolled 13 HIV-infected patients with microbiologically confirmed Tb and 10 matched mono-HIV infected controls. Total HIV DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), plasma interleukin-7 (IL-7) concentrations and the activities of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) were measured for all the participants prior to therapy and after antiretroviral therapy (ART). Results After a duration of 16 (12, 22) months’ ART, patients co-infected with Tb who were cured of Tb maintained higher levels of HIV DNA compared with mono-HIV infected patients [2.89 (2.65- 3.05) log 10 copies/10 6 cells vs. 2.30 (2.11–2.84) log 10 copies/10 6 cells, P = 0.008]. The levels of on-ART HIV DNA were positively correlated with the baseline viral load ( r = 0.64, P = 0.02) in Tb co-infected group. However, neither plasma IL-7 concentration nor plasma IDO activity was correlated with the level of on-ART HIV DNA. Conclusions Tb co-infection was associated with the increased surrogate marker of the HIV reservoir, while its mechanism warrants further examination.