City Research Online

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global emergency causing an estimated 1.5 million deaths annually. For several decades the major focus of TB treatment has been on antibiotic development targeting Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb). The lengthy TB treatment duration and poor treatment outcomes associated with multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) are of major concern. The sparse new TB drug pipeline and widespread emergence of MDR-TB signal an urgent need for more innovative interventions to improve treatment outcomes. Building on the historical Pasteur-Bechamp debates on the role of the ‘microbe’ versus the ‘host internal milieu’ in disease causation, we make the case for parallel investments into host-directed therapies (HDTs). A range of potential HDTs are now available which require evaluation in randomized controlled clinical trials as adjunct therapies for shortening the duration of TB therapy and improving treatment outcomes for drug-susceptible TB and MDR-TB. Funder initiatives that may enable further research into HDTs are described.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Clinical Infectious Diseases following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Craig, G. M., Zumla, A., Maeurer, M. & Host-Directed Therapies Network (HDT-NET) Consortium, . Host-Directed Therapies for tackling Multi-Drug Resistant TB – learning from the Pasteur-Bechamp debates. Clinical Infectious Diseases, is available here http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cid/civ631
Publisher Keywords:	Host-Directed Therapy, Tuberculosis, treatment, multi-drug resistant TB, repurposed drugs
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

Export

Downloads