Title:Host-Directed Therapeutics against Mycobacterial Infections
Volume: 23
Issue: 18
Author(s): Haruaki Tomioka*, Chiaki Sano and Yutaka Tatano
Affiliation:
- Department of Basic Medical Science for Nursing, Department of Primary Education, Yasuda Women’s University, Hiroshima, Hiroshima 731-0153,Japan
Keywords:
Host directed therapeutics, immunoadjunctive agents, mycobacterial infections, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium
avium complex.
Abstract: The high incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the world, especially in developing countries, the resurgence
of TB in industrialized countries, and the global increase in the prevalence of Mycobacterium avium complex
infections in immunocompromised hosts have prompted the quest for novel antimycobacterial drugs. However,
the development of such antimicrobial chemotherapeutics is currently making very slow progress even with
using the bioinformatics-based methodology for drug design. It thus appears that devising improved administration
protocols for clinical treatment against intractable mycobacterial infections using existing chemotherapeutics
is more practical than awaiting the development of new antimycobacterial drugs. The potentiation of host immune
responses using immunoadjunctive agents, alternatively called host-directed therapeutics (HDTs), may increase
the efficacy of antimycobacterial regimens against mycobacteriosis. Particularly, the modulation of host immunity
relating to macrophage antimicrobial functions may be beneficial to the immunoadjunctive therapy. This
review will deal with the current status and future prospects regarding the development of HDTs useful for the
clinical control of intractable mycobacterial infections.
