Aerosolized gentamicin reduces the burden of tuberculosis in a murine model

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2012 Feb;56(2):883-6. doi: 10.1128/AAC.05633-11. Epub 2011 Dec 5.

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major infectious disease problem: 1.7 million people annually die due to TB. Emergence of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the lack of new antibiotics have exacerbated the situation. There is an urgent need to develop or repurpose drugs against TB. We evaluated inhaled gentamicin as direct respiratory system-targeted therapy in a murine model of TB. Aerosolized-gentamicin-treated mice showed significantly reduced lung M. tuberculosis loads and fewer granulomas relative to untreated controls. These results suggest that direct delivery of antibiotics to the respiratory system may provide therapeutic benefit to conventional treatment regimes for treatment of pulmonary TB.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Inhalation
  • Animals
  • Antitubercular Agents / administration & dosage*
  • Antitubercular Agents / therapeutic use
  • Bacterial Load / drug effects*
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Female
  • Gentamicins / administration & dosage*
  • Gentamicins / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Lung / microbiology
  • Lung / pathology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / drug effects*
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / drug therapy*
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / microbiology
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / pathology

Substances

  • Antitubercular Agents
  • Gentamicins