Benztropine, a drug prescribed for tremors in Parkinson’s disease, has shown promise against tuberculosis (TB) in both human cell and mouse models. The corresponding study was published in npj Antimicrobials and Resistance.
Of the 10 million people affected by TB each year, around 1.5 million die, making it the world’s deadliest infectious disease. Current treatment regimens include antibiotics lasting months which can have serious side effects and increase risk of antimicrobial resistance. New approaches for treating TB are thus urgently needed.
In the current study, researchers screened a library of over 240 US FDA-approved drugs against immune cells infected with TB. They found that benzotropine significantly reduced TB bacterial counts in both human and mouse immune cells. Meanwhile, in mouse models of the condition, the drug led to a 70% reduction in bacterial load in the lungs- a similar rate to some treatments currently used for TB.
TB can be challenging to treat as the bacteria that cause the disease, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, infect and survive in immune cells known as macrophages. Whereas antibiotics work by directly killing the bacteria, benzotropine works by enhancing immune function- blocking a receptor on macrophages exploited by TB bacteria thus allowing them to regain their ability to kill off the pathogens.
“Because these therapies don’t directly target the bacteria, they’re far less likely to drive drug resistance. They can also work in combination with existing antibiotics to improve treatment outcomes or help in cases where antibiotics fail,” said lead author of the study, Dr. Henok Sahile, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of British Columbia’s faculty of medicine, in a press release.
The drug also showed similar efficacy in a mouse model of Salmonella infection, suggesting potential to treat a broad range of pathogens.
“Repurposing existing drugs is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to bring new treatments to patients. With benztropine, we already understand the safety profile and pharmacology, which means we can move more quickly toward clinical trials,” senior author of the study, Dr. Yossef Av-Gay, professor of infectious diseases at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of medicine, said in a press release.
Sources: npj Antimicrobials and Resistance, World Health Organization, EurekAlert