Patients who received ART prior to commencing MDR-TB treatment were 1.7 times more likely to die compared with those who commenced ART after initiation of MDR-TB treatment (OR 1.65, 95 % CI 1.02–2.73, p = 0.050), adjusting for confounders such as BMI, haemoglobin, CD4 cell count and the presence of other opportunistic infections. This evidence concerns the gene CD4 and tuberculosis.