Metronidazole validates drugs targeting hypoxic bacteria for improved treatment of tuberculosis

摘要: Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) affects one-third of the world population and poses a major challenge for TB control (1). People with LTBI have 10% lifetime risk developing active disease, but is greatly increased in immunocompromised conditions such as HIV infection, which has annual risk. Prophylactic treatment increasingly recognized an important strategy prevention disease high-risk populations, HIV-positive individuals, more effective endemic areas. LTBI, where number Mycobacterium bacteria lesions considered small, can be treated single drug isoniazid (INH) 6 or 9 mo rifampin (RIF) 4 mo, it INH rifapentine weekly 3 to prevent reactivation humans (2). In PNAS, work by Lin et al. (3) shows that metronidazole (MTZ), only against nonreplicating (persisters) under hypoxic/anaerobic conditions, anti-TNF antibody-induced model macaques, could potentially improve disease.