Publication Details

AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS

SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH

Successful shortening of tuberculosis treatment using adjuvant host-directed therapy with FDA-approved phosphodiesterase inhibitors in the mouse model

PLoS ONE, Volume 7, No. 2, Article e30749, Year 2012

Global control of tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease that claims nearly 2 million lives annually, is hindered by the long duration of chemotherapy required for curative treatment. Lack of adherence to this intense treatment regimen leads to poor patient outcomes, development of new or additional drug resistance, and continued spread of M.tb. within communities. Hence, shortening the duration of TB therapy could increase drug adherence and cure in TB patients. Here, we report that addition of the United Stated Food and Drug Administration-approved phosphodiesterase inhibitors (PDE-Is) cilostazol and sildenafil to the standard TB treatment regimen reduces tissue pathology, leads to faster bacterial clearance and shortens the time to lung sterilization by one month, compared to standard treatment alone, in a murine model of TB. Our data suggest that these PDE-Is could be repurposed for use as adjunctive drugs to shorten TB treatment in humans. © 2012 Maiga et al.
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Citations: 65
Authors: 8
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Research Areas
Cancer
Food Security
Health System And Policy
Infectious Diseases