Elevated Notch ligands in serum are associated with HIV/TB coinfection.

There is a clear need for improved biomarkers to diagnose HIV/TB coinfection. Although numerous tests can identify the existence of both of these microbes within the host, a parallel assessment of the host response to HIV/TB coinfection may prove as useful confirmation in cases where microbiological tests are inconclusive. To this end we assessed the levels of Notch ligands found in serum samples of patients with TB, HIV or HIV/TB coinfection. The Notch system is involved in almost every stage of development, including the maturation of the immune response. Upon exposure to a pathogen, the innate immune system will increase expression of Notch ligands Delta-like 1 and Delta-like 4. Previous research has demonstrated that Notch ligand expression is increased on monocytes from patients diagnosed with tuberculosis. We hypothesized that if Notch ligands were present in the peripheral blood of individuals diagnosed with TB, they may serve as a novel marker for infection. DLL1 and DLL4 were measured by ELISA. Linear regression with post tests were used to determine if levels of DLL1 and DLL4 were increased in individuals with HIV/TB coinfection as compared to individuals infected with either HIV or TB or healthy controls. Delta-like 1 and Delta-like 4 were significantly increased in the serum of patients with HIV and HIV/ M. tuberculosis coinfection compared to other groups. Assessment of Notch ligands in peripheral blood may enhance the diagnosis of individuals with active TB that are co-infected with HIV. The study will also need to be validated in in a larger cohort.

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© 2021 The Author(s).

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.