Bedaquiline and Leprosy: A New Treatment for an Ancient Disease?

Four weeks of bedaquiline monotherapy cleared Mycobacterium leprae in samples of skin lesions from patients with previously untreated multibacillary leprosy.

Leprosy requires prolonged treatment with multiple drugs associated with severe adverse effects. Are there safer alternatives? In an open-label, manufacturer-supported proof-of-concept study in Brazil, investigators assessed an 8-week course of oral bedaquiline (given at a lower dose than that used for drug-resistant tuberculosis) in persons with untreated multibacillary leprosy. Bedaquiline was followed by standard WHO multidrug therapy for leprosy; patients were followed for 112 weeks. Response to therapy was assessed by the growth of Mycobacterium leprae in footpads of mice inoculated with samples from participants' skin lesions. The authors also explored another way to assess treatment response by using quantitative reverse-transcriptas…

Reviewing Author

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Bedaquiline and Leprosy: A New Treatment for an Ancient Disease?

Topics

Reviewing Author