Improving the functionality of infected, iron loaded mammalian cells through the use of DFO in an in vitro protocol

M.Sc.Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for a large fraction of the world’s infectious diseases, particularly AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) and Tuberculosis (TB) and at the same time, iron (Fe) overload is common to several of its regions. Excess Fe aids in the replication of both Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tuberculosis, Lounis, 2001; Georgiou, 2000) and also causes a malfunction of the host’s defense system and may ultimately lead to cell death. Not only does iron assist in pathogen survival but the pathogens themselves have a synergistic relationship where infection of one supports the replication of the other (Toosi, 2001; Bonecini-Almeida et al., 1998). Controlling the replication of these pathogens as well as the iron overload simultaneously becomes a huge task as many pathogenic and host factors needs to be considered at once. Desferrioxamine (DFO), a chelator commonly used to treat clinical conditions of iron overload has been reported to inhibit the multiplication of pathogens and at the same time extract the excess iron