Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2025
System for Efficacy and Cytotoxicity Screening of Inhibitors Targeting Intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Published on: April 5, 2017
A 24-Week, All-Oral Regimen for Rifampin-Resistant Tuberculosis
Bern-Thomas Nyang'wa1, Catherine Berry1, Emil Kazounis1
1From the Public Health Department, Operational Center Amsterdam (OCA), Médecins sans Frontières, Amsterdam (B.-T.N., K.R.); the Public Health Department, OCA, Médecins sans Frontières (C.B., E.K., I.M.), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (B.-T.N., M.D., D.A.J.M., K.F.), and University College London (T.D.M.) - all in London; the Republican Specialized Scientific and Practical Medical Center of Phthisiology and Pulmonology, Tashkent (N.P., I.L.), and the Republican Phthisiological Hospital No. 2, Nukus (Z.T.) - both in Uzbekistan; the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Pulmonology and Tuberculosis, Minsk, Belarus (V.S.); THINK TB and HIV Investigative Network, Durban (R.M.), and Wits Health Consortium, Johannesburg (N.N., M.R.) - both in South Africa; the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, New York (M.S.); and the Burnet Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia (P.C.).
Background:
In patients with rifampin-resistant tuberculosis, all-oral treatment regimens that are more effective, shorter, and have a more acceptable side-effect profile than current regimens are needed.
Methods:
We conducted an open-label, phase 2-3, multicenter, randomized, controlled, noninferiority trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of three 24-week, all-oral regimens for the treatment of rifampin-resistant tuberculosis. Patients in Belarus, South Africa, and Uzbekistan who were 15 years of age or older and had rifampin-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis were enrolled. In stage 2 of the trial, a 24-week regimen of bedaquiline, pretomanid, linezolid, and moxifloxacin (BPaLM) was compared with a 9-to-20-month standard-care regimen. The primary outcome was an unfavorable status (a composite of death, treatment failure, treatment discontinuation, loss to follow-up, or recurrence of tuberculosis) at 72 weeks after randomization. The noninferiority margin was 12 percentage points.
Results:
Recruitment was terminated early. Of 301 patients in stage 2 of the trial, 145, 128, and 90 patients were evaluable in the intention-to-treat, modified intention-to-treat, and per-protocol populations, respectively. In the modified intention-to-treat analysis, 11% of the patients in the BPaLM group and 48% of those in the standard-care group had a primary-outcome event (risk difference, -37 percentage points; 96.6% confidence interval [CI], -53 to -22). In the per-protocol analysis, 4% of the patients in the BPaLM group and 12% of those in the standard-care group had a primary-outcome event (risk difference, -9 percentage points; 96.6% CI, -22 to 4). In the as-treated population, the incidence of adverse events of grade 3 or higher or serious adverse events was lower in the BPaLM group than in the standard-care group (19% vs. 59%).
Conclusions:
In patients with rifampin-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis, a 24-week, all-oral regimen was noninferior to the accepted standard-care treatment, and it had a better safety profile. (Funded by Médecins sans Frontières; TB-PRACTECAL ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02589782.).
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:28Pulmonary Tuberculosis V
Latent tuberculosis infection occurs when TB bacteria are present in a person's body, but are not causing illness or symptoms. It is not contagious, and preventive treatment is crucial to avoid the...
01:26Pulmonary Tuberculosis IV
Several diagnostic approaches are used to detect TB. The conventional method is the Tuberculin Skin Test (TST), also known as the Mantoux test. However, this method has...
01:28Pulmonary Tuberculosis II
Here is a detailed explanation of its pathophysiology:
Transmission: The process begins when a person inhales droplet nuclei containing M. tuberculosis. These are typically released into the air when an individual with pulmonary or...
01:31Pulmonary Tuberculosis III
The first classification is based on the development of the disease, and it includes the following categories:
01:29Pulmonary Tuberculosis I
Causative Organism
The primary infectious agent causing tuberculosis is Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a slow-growing, acid-fast, aerobic rod that exhibits sensitivity to heat and ultraviolet light. Instances of Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium contributing to the development of TB infection are rare.
Mode of...