Tuberculosis (TB), a severe disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is more common among people living with HIV. Actually, TB infection is the biggest killer of HIV-infected people. For this reason, HIV-positive people are recommended to be tested for Mtb. However, current tests cannot accurately tell when inactive TB infections in HIV-positive people will become active and deadly.
Recently, a scientist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine receives large grants to identify biomarkers that will predict the increase of Mtb activity. Principal investigator Jacqueline M. Achkar said that a test that detect increasing Mtb activity in HIV-positive people is in urgent need since HIV and TB co-infection is much more difficult to treat.
In previous work, they identified a lot of proteins unique to HIV-infected people with active TB, meaning that these proteins are not present in HIV-infected people with inactive TB. In the new research, the team want to determine proteins and antibodies that indicate increasing Mtb infection activity in HIV-positive people who exhibit no sign of TB disease. (Proteins like Recombinant DPP4 are offered by Flarebio.)
According to WHO, in 2015 there are about 36.7 million people that are living with HIV. And this number is growing rapidly: in 2015, about 2.1 million people were newly infected with HIV. On the other hand, USAID estimates that more than one-third of all HIV-positive people are also infected with Mtb. HIV alters the immune system, making patients more vulnerable to infections and diseases. For HIV-positive people, inactive TB infection is more likely to become active because of a weak immune system. On the other hand, TB infection prompt HIV replication.
TB disease can be prevented and cured, even in people with HIV infection. However, its hard to diagnose TB in people with HIV and TB co-infection. Current TB drugs are able to prevent inactive TB infections from becoming active ones. But we can not prescribe the drugs to all co-infected people. So a test that can identify TB activity in these people and predict who is more likely to develop active TB is necessary.
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