Expressions of Toll-like receptor 2 and the downstream proteins in human immunodeficiency virus/Mycobacterium tuberculosis co-infection patients / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the expressions of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2 ) and the downstream proteins in patients with human immunodeficiency virus /Mycobacterium tuberculosis (HIV /M TB) co-infection .Methods A total of 119 subjects were randomly enrolled .The subjects were divided into four groupsHIV group (n = 32) ,HIV /M TB group (n = 30) ,M TB group (n = 28) and healthy control group (n= 29) .Peripheral venous blood was collected and the HIV-1 viral load was determined by standard method .The expression levels of TLR2 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were determined by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) of TLR2 protein was detected by flow cytometry .The plasma interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits .The data were statistically analyzed by chi-square test ,students t test ,analysis of variance and rank sum test when appropriate .Results The viral load in HIV /M TB group ([5 .113 ± 1 .018] lg copy/mL ) was significantly higher than that in HIV group ([4 .416 ± 1 .020] lg copy/mL ; t = 3 .449 , P among HIV ,HIV/M TB ,M TB and healthy control groups were 1 .397 ± 0 .601 ,1 .463 ± 0 .702 ,1 .429 ± 0 .630 ,and 0 .970 ± 0 .488 ,respectively ,which was significantly different among the 4 groups (F =4 .197 , P= 0 .007) .The MFI of TLR2 protein expressions on PBMC among HIV ,HIV /M TB ,M TB and healthy control groups were 28 .12 ± 4 .55 ,38 .11 ± 11 .77 ,31 .13 ± 12 .10 and 23 .33 ± 5 .14 ,respectively . The TLR2 protein expression levels were significantly different among 4 groups (F= 13 .976 ,P< 0 .01) . The plasma IL-6 and TNF-α concentrations were significantly different among 4 groups (Z = 19 .088 , 15 .475 ,both P< 0 .01) .The IL-6 concentrations in three patient groups were higher than that in healthy control group ,but the TNF-α concentrations were lower than healthy control group .Conclusions The co-infection of HIV-1 and M TB may enhance the activation of TLR2 signaling pathway ,which leads to the increased expression of IL-6 .