Association of Toll-Like Receptor Gene Polymorphisms with Tuberculosis in HIV-Positive Participants
Svetlana Salamaikina,
Vitaly Korchagin,
Ekaterina Kulabukhova,
Konstantin Mironov,
Vera Zimina,
Alexey Kravtchenko,
Vasily Akimkin
Affiliations
Svetlana Salamaikina
Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Russian Federation, Novogireevskaya Str. 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia
Vitaly Korchagin
Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Russian Federation, Novogireevskaya Str. 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia
Ekaterina Kulabukhova
Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Russian Federation, Novogireevskaya Str. 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia
Konstantin Mironov
Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Russian Federation, Novogireevskaya Str. 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia
Vera Zimina
Medical Institute, The Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Miklukho-Maklaya Str. 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia
Alexey Kravtchenko
Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Russian Federation, Novogireevskaya Str. 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia
Vasily Akimkin
Central Research Institute of Epidemiology Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Russian Federation, Novogireevskaya Str. 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia
Genetic factors in the HIV-background may play a significant role in the susceptibility to secondary diseases, like tuberculosis, which is the leading cause in mortality of HIV-positive people. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are considered to be receptors for adaptive immunity, and polymorphisms in TLR genes can influence the activity of the immune response to infection. We conducted a case–control study of the association of TLR gene polymorphisms with the risk of tuberculosis coinfection in a multi-country sample of HIV-positive participants. Our study revealed certain associations between TLR4 and TLR6 polymorphisms and HIV–tuberculosis coinfection. We also found that the analyzed TLR1 and TLR4 polymorphisms were linked with the decline in CD4+ cell count, which is a predictor of disease progression in HIV-infected individuals. Our findings confirm that TLR gene polymorphisms are factors that may contribute to development of HIV–tuberculosis coinfection. However, the essence of the observed associations remains unclear, since it can also include both environmental factors and epigenetic mechanisms of gene expression regulation.
