HIV-TB co-infection: Mechanisms that drive reactivation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in HIV infection

Abstract

HIV infection predisposes the host to tuberculosis by impairing the hosts' immune system principally by killing and altering CD4 T-cell function. How HIV infection disrupts CD4 T-cell function, which specifically compromises host immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is poorly understood and is a critical roadblock in developing better vaccine- or immune-based strategies to control and monitor TB in HIV-infected subjects. This review considers key pathways that are altered in HIV-infected subjects that impair anti-TB immunity.