Modeling the TB/HIV-1 Co-Infection and the Effects of Its Treatment

Abstract

Modeling the interaction of Tuberculosis (TB) and AIDS (HIV) drugs in the treatment of the TB/HIV co-infection shows that the treatment of Mtb (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and AIDS improves. The administration of HIV drugs without TB drugs during co-infection favors the treatment of HIV, but the patient will eventually die of the Mtb opportunistic infection. Reducing the interaction of TB and HIV drugs and increasing the performance (efficiency of inhibition) of Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (RTIs) in CD4+ T cells improves the treatment of HIV and leads to the preferential replication of HIV particles in macrophages. The simultaneous administration of TB and HIV drugs is to be recommended for it prevents patients from dying of the Mtb opportunistic infection.

Keywords:

• AIDS
• co-infection
• highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART)
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• TB chemotherapy

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Gesham Magombedze acknowledges the financial support of the South African DST/NRF Center of Excellence in Epidemiological Modeling and Analysis (SACEMA).

Notes

Naive T cells are matured T cells from the thymus that are not primed or activated and not specific to any infection. They can be primed or get activated in the lymph node after antigen presentation by dendritic cells to give CTLs (form naive CD8+ T cells) and helper CD4+ T cells (from naive CD4+ T cells). The CD4+ and CD8+ are the protein makers they carry which differentiate them.