Co-infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus: an overview and motivation for systems approaches

Tuberculosis is a devastating disease that accounts for a high proportion of infectious disease morbidity and mortality worldwide. HIV-1 co-infection exacerbates tuberculosis. Enhanced understanding of the host-pathogen relationship in HIV-1 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis co-infection is required. While reductionist approaches have yielded many valuable insights into disease pathogenesis, systems approaches are required that develop data-driven models able to predict emergent properties of this complex co-infection system in order to develop novel therapeutic approaches and to improve diagnostics. Here, we provide a pathogenesis-focused overview of HIV-TB co-infection followed by an introduction to systems approaches and concrete examples of how such approaches are useful. The authors present a thorough review of knowledge about the interaction of HIV and tuberculosis from several perspectives, including clinical, immunological and epidemiological perspectives. This review is very enjoyable to read and very informative for all those interested in HIV and/or tuberculosis.