Phosphatidylserine Liposomes Reduce Inflammatory Response, Mycobacterial Viability, and HIV Replication in Coinfected Human Macrophages

Chronic immune activation is the key pathogenetic event of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection. We assessed the therapeutic value of phosphatidylserine-liposome (PS-L) in an in vitro model of M. tuberculosis-HIV coinfection. PS-L reduced nuclear factor-kappa B activation and the downstream production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), and IL-6 in bacille Calmette-Guerin-infected macrophages and of TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta in M. tuberculosis-infected and M. tuberculosis-HIV-coinfected macrophages. Importantly, a significant reduction of intracellular M. tuberculosis viability and HIV replication were also observed. These results support the further exploitation of PS-L as host-directed therapy for M. tuberculosis-HIV coinfection.