HIV-1 and TB: How Humanized Mice Can Help

Tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have been closely linked since the emergence of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), to date the main focus of research has been on studying the diseases separately. The epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and management of both HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infections are different and far more involved in coinfected compared to monoinfected individuals. There are complex interacting forces driving pathogenesis of each disease, and our understanding of these mechanisms remains inadequate to best develop preventive measures against the “dual disease.” Deficiencies in our knowledge mainly stem from the lack of a standardized animal model for studying the synergy between bona fide HIV and M.tb. Although conventional mouse models have improved our understanding of TB outside of the context of HIV, wild-type mice are not amendable for HIV/TB coinfection research. Improvements in the humanized mouse model are allowing HIV-1 and TB copathogenesis studies. Here, we discuss the possibilities for TB/HIV-1 coinfection in humanized mice and the limitations and suggestions on improving the humanized mouse model specifically for TB/HIV-1 coinfection studies.