found that chronic HIV-1 infection upregulated the expression of miR-146a and exhaustion markers PD-1 and CTLA-4 following T cell activation, and the depletion of miR-146a improved the antiviral capacity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from chronic HIV-1 infected patients through the upregulation of antiviral cytokines, such as IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α. Here, TNF is linked to HIV-1 infection.