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Co-infection of mice with SARS-CoV-2 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis limits early viral replication but does not affect mycobacterial loads.
- Source :
-
Frontiers in immunology [Front Immunol] 2023 Sep 01; Vol. 14, pp. 1240419. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Sep 01 (Print Publication: 2023). - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Viral co-infections have been implicated in worsening tuberculosis (TB) and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global rate of TB-related deaths has increased for the first time in over a decade. We and others have previously shown that a resolved prior or concurrent influenza A virus infection in Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb )-infected mice resulted in increased pulmonary bacterial burden, partly through type I interferon (IFN-I)-dependent mechanisms. Here we investigated whether SARS-CoV-2 (SCV2) co-infection could also negatively affect bacterial control of Mtb . Importantly, we found that K18-hACE2 transgenic mice infected with SCV2 one month before, or months after aerosol Mtb exposure did not display exacerbated Mtb infection-associated pathology, weight loss, nor did they have increased pulmonary bacterial loads. However, pre-existing Mtb infection at the time of exposure to the ancestral SCV2 strain in infected K18-hACE2 transgenic mice or the beta variant (B.1.351) in WT C57Bl/6 mice significantly limited early SCV2 replication in the lung. Mtb -driven protection against SCV2 increased with higher bacterial doses and did not require IFN-I, TLR2 or TLR9 signaling. These data suggest that SCV2 co-infection does not exacerbate Mtb infection in mice, but rather the inflammatory response generated by Mtb infection in the lungs at the time of SCV2 exposure restricts viral replication.<br />Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.<br /> (Copyright © 2023 Baker, Amaral, Castro, Bohrer, Torres-Juárez, Jordan, Nelson, Barber, Johnson, Hilligan and Mayer-Barber.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1664-3224
- Volume :
- 14
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Frontiers in immunology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 37720210
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1240419