Investigating the Prevalence of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Patientsinfected with HIV Microscopically and Molecularly

One of the global challenges regarding HIV patients is the increased sensitivity to intracellular pathogens such as tuberculosis. CD4+ cells are the main defense element against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but in these people, as their number decreases, the risk of tuberculosis increases, even antiretroviral treatments sometimes cause unknown manifestations of tuberculosis. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients with HIV by microscopic and molecular methods.

The present descriptive study was conducted on 100 cases of HIV-infected patients who had completed more than 6 months of antiretroviral treatment, by recording their demographic characteristics. First, three sputum samples were taken from the patients at certain times in accordance with the standard principles of laboratory and immunobiology in the open air, and they were stained by the following Nelson method and examined microscopically. Then, their blood samples were analyzed with cell counter and Real-Time PCR to measure CD4+ and determine the viral load, respectively. The collected data were analyzed using ANOVA, homogeneity of variance (LON) and LSD post hoc statistical tests.

The average CD4+ count and viral load in this community were determined as 722/8 and 177/5 respectively. Only two percent of the population (both women) had simultaneous HIV/TB infection. There was no significant relationship between infection and the variables of age, gender, marital status and education (p>0.1). There was a direct significant relationship between the variables of treatment length and CD4+ count (p<0/05) and between them with viral load. There was an inverse significant relationship (p<0/01).

Tuberculosis is the most common opportunistic infection in HIV infected patients. With the lack of a vaccine for HIV and the lack of an effective vaccine for TB, it is necessary to design strategies to deal with HIV-TB co-infection.