Co-infection of mice with SARS-CoV-2 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis limits early viral replication but does not affect mycobacterial loads.

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, we

SUBMITTER: Baker PJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10502726 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature