HIV and Tuberculosis co-infection impacts T-cell activation markers but not the numbers subset of regulatory T-cells in HIV-1 infected patients

• Main Authors: Moustapha Mbow (Author), Ndèye S.S. Santos (Author), Makhtar Camara (Author), Awa Ba (Author), Aliou Niang (Author), Géraldine Daneau (Author), Djibril Wade (Author), Abdou A. Diallo (Author), Maxim Toupane (Author), Maïmouna Diakhaté (Author), Nafissatou Lèye (Author), Papa A. Diaw (Author), Souleymane Mboup (Author), Luc Kestens (Author), Tandakha N. Dieye (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: AOSIS, 2013-09-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) has been shown to accelerate the clinical course of HIV infection, but the mechanisms by which this occurs are not well understood. Regulatory T-cells (Tregs)are known to dampen hyperactivation of the immune cells, but it remains unclear whether hyperactivation of T-cells in HIV infection is associated with a decrease of Tregs and what the effect Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) co-infection has on T-cell activation and Tregs. Objectives: In this study, we aim to evaluate whether active TB is associated with the increased expression of T-cell activation markers and reduced number of Treg cells in HIV-1-infected patients. Methods: This study was conducted on 69 subjects consisting of 20 HIV-infected patients,20 HIV and MTB co-infected patients, 19 MTB-infected patients and 10 uninfected control subjects negative for both MTB and HIV. The frequencies of T-cell activation markers (CD38 and HLA-DR) and Treg cells (CD4+CD25+CD127-) were measured by flow cytometry. Results: Significantly higher expression of CD38 and HLA-DR on CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells was found in MTB and HIV co-infected patients compared with HIV-infected patients. However,no significant difference in the percentage of Treg cells was reported between HIV patients with TB and those without. The study also showed a negative correlation between regulatoryT-cells frequency and CD4+ T-cell counts. Conclusion: These results suggest that TB enhances the expression of peripheral T-cell activation markers during HIV infection, whilst having no impact on the percentages of Tregcells.

Item Description

2225-2002
2225-2010
10.4102/ajlm.v2i1.76