Collaborating with research partners in Germany and France, researchers found novel antibiotic molecules that target Mycobacterium tuberculosis and reduce its pathogenicity for humans. In addition, certain compounds discovered could make it possible to treat tuberculosis again using current therapies, even for strains of the bacteria that have already developed drug resistance. Discoveries of dual-active ethionamide boosters inhibiting the Mycobacterium tuberculosis ESX-1 secretion pathway were reported in the Cell Chemical Biology journal.
Tuberculosis (TB) – or ‘consumption’, as it used to be called – mainly affects the lungs, but can also damage other organs. If diagnosed early and treated with antibiotics, it is curable. Although the disease is relatively rare in most western European countries, it still ranks among the infectious diseases that claim the most lives worldwide: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only Covid-19 was deadlier than TB in 2022. The disease also caused almost twice as many deaths as HIV/AIDS. More than 10 million people continue to contract TB every year. This is mainly due to insufficient access to medical treatment in many countries.