Journal of Antivirals & Antiretrovirals
Open Access
ISSN: 1948-5964
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 1948-5964
+44 1300 500008
Anna K Coussens
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Antivir Antiretrovir
Tuberculosis (TB) susceptibility is influenced by immunosuppression during Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. Amongst the greatest risk factors for TB are HIV-1 infection and vitamin D deficiency. These risks factors are not mutually exclusive and exacerbate each other. However, the phenotype of immunodeficiency induced by each is different, therefore their interrelationship on suceptiblity is complex. Co-infection with HIV is thought to increase susceptibility to TB via a number of mechanisms; primarily through dysfunctional and decreased CD4+ T cells and impaired T cell activation. However, the impact on innate immuity which may influce the primary response to Mtb is less clear. Vitamin D deficiency not only associates with TB risk, but it is greater in HIV-co-infected patients. The effects of vitamin D on the immune system are pleiotropic, being both anti-inflamamtory and anti-microbial. Consequently, the exact mechanisms by which vitamin D may help prevent and treat TB-HIV remain contentious. Evidence suggests that vitamin D may not only reduce risk of TB by increasing antimycobacterial immunity and reducing inflammation, but it may also reduce HIV replication and the associated effects on innate and adaptive immunity; thus concomitantly reducing the associated risk of HIV on TB. I will summarise our in vitro and ex vivo findings in various populations on the effect of vitamin D supplemention on the response of innate and adaptive immunity to HIV-Mtb infection, and demonstrate the effects of local inflammation on the cellular response to co-infection. Vitamin D may prove to be a cheap, effective, tool for preventing TB-HIV disease progression.
Anna Coussens obtained her PhD in Australia at the Queensland University of Technology, in Cellular and Molecular biology. After completing a postdoc at the National Institute of Medical Research in the UK, she moved to the University of Cape Town in 2012, to develp a research program in clinical TB-HIV immnology. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Medical Microbiology, within the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine. She recently began her on research group focusing on host directed therapies and biomarkers of subclincal infection. She is currenly an executive committee member of the Global Young Academy.
Email: anna.coussens@uct.ac.za