Tuberculosis remains the leading cause of pulmonary disease-related deaths globally, requiring long and complicated treatment regimens. Recently, a team of researchers from Texas, USA, identified a potential therapeutic target, indoleamine 2,3-deoxygenase (IDO) — an immunosuppressant commonly expressed in lung tissues and high amounts in tuberculosis granulomas, for treating tuberculosis. In the study, 1 12 Mycobacterium tuberculosis -infected rhesus macaques were treated with moxifloxacin and ethambutol (ME) for 12 weeks, and six of them were also treated with 1-methyl-D-tryptophan (D1MT), an IDO inhibitor, for four weeks.
Serum C-reactive protein tests showed that ME/D1MT combination treatment helped reduce the bacterial load significantly after 12 weeks of treatment compared to the untreated group. D1MT is currently under clinical trials as a potential therapeutic option against…
