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New research from Boston Medical Center finds that people living with HIV who have developed pulmonary tuberculosis have broader and more effective HIV antibody responses and differences in HIV sequences predicted to be antibody-resistant than those without suspected infection. tuberculosis or its documentation. Posted in iScience, The study indicates that co-morbid tuberculosis has a significant impact on immune responses to HIV and circulating viruses in people with HIV.
Tuberculosis affects more than 2 billion people worldwide, and although TB is the most common co-infection among people living with HIV, previous studies have not investigated how TB affects immune responses to HIV and the characteristics of the virus.
This study indicates that tuberculosis may influence the effectiveness of antibody-based prophylaxis and therapeutic strategies. Vaccines to elicit antibodies and antibodies are also being investigated as a way to treat and treat HIV. The high prevalence of antibody-resistant strains combined with tuberculosis indicates that these antibody-based interventions are more likely to fail in these individuals.
“TB is extremely common, particularly in areas of the world with high levels of ongoing HIV transmission, and affects both immune responses and characteristics of the virus circulating in people living with HIV, so it is essential that we understand the relationship between the two,” Manish said. Sagar, MD, an internist at Boston Medical Center and professor of medicine at Boston University’s Chobanian and Avidian School of Medicine.” “These studies have implications for HIV vaccines and antibody-based HIV therapies.”
The researchers worked closely with investigators in Uganda and at the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) to collect samples from people recently diagnosed with HIV who either had or did not have TB. From these individuals, they examined samples collected before and approximately 6 months after they started taking HIV medications. The researchers compared antibodies, plasma inflammatory markers, and HIV sequences in baseline and in treatment samples.
Tuberculosis is associated with a high prevalence of antibody-resistant HIV. Persistent rates of HIV transmission in areas of the world with recurrent TB suggest that a potential vaccine that produces broad and strong antibodies may not work because these geographic areas are more likely to contain antibody-resistant strains.
The researchers highlight that this study has implications for HIV vaccine strategies because it aims to produce antibodies that can block the virus after exposure. Producing broad and robust antibodies to HIV has not been achieved and remains an enormous challenge. But TB generates potent antibody responses and the dissection of biological pathways provides insight into how TB promotes antibody responses to HIV, and can be leveraged to develop novel strategies for eliciting broad and effective HIV antibodies.
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