New Cancer Treatment Shows Promise Against Deadly Tuberculosis
A new cancer treatment has shown promising results in fighting one of the most fatal infectious diseases in the world – tuberculosis (TB). Researchers at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute have found that this medication not only significantly decreases the growth of TB but is especially effective against drug-resistant bacteria. The findings were published in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.
TB claims the lives of more than 1.6 million people every year and mainly targets the lungs. Treatment often involves months of antibiotics, but drug resistance is making it increasingly challenging to cure the disease. The team at Texas Biomed is dedicated to studying the interactions between airborne-transmissible bacteria and humans to identify potential treatment targets.
In the case of TB, the bacterium known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) blocks a normal cell death process, enabling it to grow inside immune cells called alveolar macrophages in the lungs. However, the new medication tested in this study inhibits two key proteins, MCL-1 and BCL-2, which prevents M.tb from hijacking the cell death process. As a result, the macrophages are able to kill the bacteria.
What makes this treatment particularly promising is that it is effective even within granuloma structures, which are dense cellular clumps that the body forms around M.tb to contain it. Typically, antibiotics and other treatments struggle to penetrate these structures, making it difficult to eliminate the bacteria completely.
Dr. Larry Schlesinger, the senior author of the paper, believes that host-directed therapies, which harness the body’s immune response, can be a game-changer for infectious diseases, similar to how immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of cancer.
In the study, the research team tested the MCL-1 and BCL-2 inhibitors individually, as well as in combination with TB antibiotics, to assess their impact on TB growth. They discovered that using both inhibitors together was more effective than using either one alone. Additionally, combining the inhibitors with antibiotics proved to be the most effective approach, controlling TB up to 98%.
What’s particularly exciting about this finding is that the inhibitors were equally effective against drug-resistant TB as they were against drug-susceptible TB. This highlights the power of host-directed therapies that target the human immune response rather than directly attacking the pathogen.
The study also utilized unique cellular models containing TB-infected human cells, which allowed researchers to screen potential TB medications and therapies. These models, cultivated using human blood cells, mimic the formation of granuloma-like structures, providing a crucial testing ground for compounds that can penetrate and remain active within these structures.
Dr. Eusondia Arnett, the lead author of the paper, emphasized that these cellular models are a vital bridge between laboratory testing and animal research, facilitating the identification of viable compounds before moving on to complex and time-consuming animal studies.
The research team, encouraged by their promising results, has filed a provisional patent for the combination therapy and plans to conduct further studies using cell, mouse, and nonhuman primate models. They also aim to collaborate with industry partners to accelerate the therapy’s journey to the clinic. The fact that the inhibitors used in the treatment are already undergoing safety studies for cancer applications bodes well for a swift transition to clinical trials.
Overall, this breakthrough in tuberculosis treatment holds tremendous potential for combatting this deadly infectious disease. By leveraging the body’s immune response and focusing on host-directed therapies, researchers are paving the way for a new approach to tackling TB and potentially other infectious diseases in the future.
