why HIV patients are more vulnerable to TB infection

A research team from Harvard has a significant first step towards the development of new therapies for people living with HIV battle Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection. In his report in the July 2009 edition of the print Journal of Leukocyte Biology they describe as HIV-interference with cellular and molecular mechanisms of the lung in the fight against tuberculosis infection. This information is crucial for the treatment of researchers, people living with HIV to prevent or to TB infection. "HIV / TB co-infection is a critical problem of global health, particularly in developing countries," said Naimish Patel, MD, lead scientists to the study and professor of medicine at the deaconesses Beth Israel Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. "We hope these results lead to new studies and new therapies for treatment or prevention of HIV-TB disease."

Patel and his colleagues of his discovery by the production of immune system cells called alveolar macrophages from the lungs of other healthy, asymptomatic HIV patients and people who are not infected with HIV. For people who are HIV positive, macrophages have a reaction to the decrease in tuberculosis bacteria in relation to persons who are not infected with HIV. To learn why scientists examined samples of lungs of patients with HIV and to find a higher level of a molecule called IL-10, increasing the amount of the protein with the term "BCL-3" in alveolar macrophages and reduced their ability to defend tuberculosis infection.

"HIV and tuberculosis are major public health challenges in the history of mankind and the combination of the two infections are particularly devastating because HIV increases the severity of TB infection," said John Wherry, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, "There are still many uncertainties about how HIV reduces the body's ability to fight against other infections. This study highlights co-infection with HIV and tuberculosis, which so far has surprised scientists and doctors alike. "

For more information: Naimish R. Patel, Katharine Swan, Xin Li, D. Tachado memories, and Henry Koziel. M. tuberculosis-risk in apoptosis of alveolar macrophages HIV +: potential role of IL-10 and BCL-3. J Leukoc Biol 2009 86: 53 http://www.jleukbio.org/cgi/content/abstract/86/1/53