Johns Hopkins researchers report evidence from mouse studies that a "repurposed" drug that would be expected to improve the immune system response of tuberculosis patients may be increasing resistance to the antibiotic drugs these patients must also take.
The findings, which involve one of the new so-called host-directed therapies for TB, are a cautionary note on use of these adjunct approaches designed to fight active TB by increasing the efficiency of antimicrobials drug, rather than working directly against the TB bacillus, as antimicrobials do.