Four groundbreaking studies could revolutionize tuberculosis treatment

Four groundbreaking studies could revolutionize tuberculosis treatment

In early 2025, tuberculosis cases are increasing in the United States, this disease, often shortened to TB, causes significant lung damage and, if not, is not always fatal. World Day on March 24th raises awareness of the disease and commemorates Robert Koch's discovery of the source bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. More than a century later, scientists continue to refine TB diagnostic procedures and treatment strategies, some of which are included in these four ACS Journal articles. Reporters can request free access to these papers by email [email protected].

1. Fluorescence for faster TB diagnosis.Currently, testing saliva samples for M. tuberculosis is time-consuming due to the bacterium's slow growth and resistance to the stains used in imaging. To develop a faster method, researchers targeted a protein that the bacterium uses to steal iron ions from its host's cells. In a study published inACS -Central ScienceThe team explains how the iron transporter protein is tagged with a fluorescent tag that turns on after iron is released in the M. tuberculosis cells. In separate tests on saliva from 11 people diagnosed with TB, the fluorescence technique identified infectious levels of the bacterium within 10 minutes.

2. White blood cell-targeted M. tuberculosis therapy.A type of white blood cell called a macrophage is taken over during a tuberculosis infection and becomes an incubator for the pathogen. This is what researchers report inACS - infectious diseasesthat they developed sugar-coated nanoparticles that are absorbed by infected macrophages. And once the nanoparticles inside disrupted critical cellular pathways and caused the damaged cells to recycle. In infected mice, 6 weeks of nanoparticle treatment significantly reduced the amount of M. tuberculosis in the lungs.

3. A potential nasal treatment for tuberculous meningitis.If M. tuberculosis reaches cerebrospinal fluid, the result can be tuberculous meningitis - a life-threatening inflammation around a person's brain and spinal cord. To get the TB drug clofazimine across the blood-brain barrier, researchers encapsulated it in tiny particles and created a nasal spray. According to their study inACS - infectious diseases,The spray did not negatively affect mice with tuberculous meningitis. A 4-week treatment significantly reduced the bacterial load in the animals' brains and lungs compared to untreated mice.

4. Light-activated particles inactivate bacteria.Many new TB cases are multidrug-resistant. Therefore, a research team wanted to improve the effectiveness of the treatment and reduce the risk of further antimicrobial resistance by creating photoreactive therapy. They encapsulated light-activated particles in nanometer-wide spheres. When the nanospheres were injected into mice, red laser light triggered the particles to produce reactive oxygen species that inactivated Mycobacterium marinum, a bacterium that causes TB-like disease in fish. The first animal study results are published in ACS Omega.

Additionally, ACS Webinars and ACS Publications hosted a virtual event in March 2025, “Disrupt & Destroy: Starving Tuberculosis with Smarter Science,” about innovative drug strategies and cutting-edge TB research. The webinar is available to watch on-demand.

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