Expression of interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 in leprosy reactions in patients with human immunodeficiency virus coinfection

- Leprosy is an ancient disease that is not yet fully understood despite intense research efforts.
- Leprosy reactions represent an acute hypersensitivity phenomenon that occurs in the presence of Mycobacterium leprae antigens.
- The cytokines IL-1β and IL-6 play an important role in the pathogenesis of leprosy reactions.
- HIV coinfected patients and patients with leprosy alone expressed similar levels of IL-1β and IL-6.

Previous studies suggest that coinfection of leprosy and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not decrease the frequency and intensity of leprosy reactions. However, the immunological aspects of leprosy reactions in coinfected patients remain obscure, with a limited number of studies showing contradictory results. Observational study using tissue samples collected during leprosy reactions from 15 patients coinfected with leprosy and HIV and from 15 patients with leprosy alone. Patients were part of a prior larger cohort study of leprosy patients with and without HIV coinfection. Specific antibodies were used to detect IL-1β and IL-6 expression in skin biopsy tissue cells. IL-1β and IL-6 expression was similar between leprosy patients with and without HIV coinfection (p > 0.05). Coinfected and non-coinfected tissues showed similar levels of IL-1β and IL-6 expression for type 1 reactions. A trend towards increased levels of IL-1β and IL-6 expression was observed in tissue from coinfected patients (p = 0.0024). The expression of IL-1β and IL-6 during leprosy reactions did not differ significantly between tissues obtained from leprosy patients with and without HIV coinfection. Therefore, we conclude that HIV coinfection does not affect the immunological pattern of leprosy reactions.