Individuals with the HIV-Induced Immunodeficiency Disease AIDS Have a Progressive $\alpha$

Individuals with the HIV-induced immunodeficiency disease AIDS have a progressive loss in the number of CD4 T cells in their bodies. These patients have a greatly increased rate of life-threatening disease caused by the inability of their immune system to control infections of the intracellular bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) . Mtb infects macrophages and then replicates in the cell's phagosomes. The most important immune mechanism lacking in these patients that leads to their increased susceptibility to Mtb is a defect in:

A) CD4 T cell help for cytotoxic effector CD8 T cells
B) The activation of macrophages by T_H1 effector cells
C) The production of opsonizing antibodies that requires T_FH cell help for B cells
D) The production of TNF- $\alpha$ by the infected macrophages
E) The recruitment of neutrophils to the site of infection