The Adjuvant Effect of Subcutaneous Interferon-gamma in the Treatment of Refractory Multidrug-resistant Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Abstract
Background : Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is a critical cytokine in the defense against a Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.Even though IFN-γ has occasionally been used in the treatment of refractory multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) with some promising results, there is still some controversy regarding the therapeutic efficacy of IFN-γ.This study was performed to examine the effect of subcutaneous IFN-γ in the treatment of MDR-TB patients.Methods : Six patients with refractory MDR-TB were enrolled in this study.Two million IU of IFN-γ was administered subcutaneously three times a week with the concomitant administration of antituberculous drugs for at least for 28 weeks.During the IFN-γ therapy, the sputum smear and culture, radiological and clinical evaluations were performed every 4 weeks throughout the study period.Results : The mean age of the 6 patients was 37 years (ranges, 15-61 years).The drug susceptibility test to standard antituberculous drugs revealed resistance to an average of 6.8 (±1.2) agents including isoniazid and rifampicin.An average of 10.8 (±1.3) antituberculous drugs were prescribed before IFN-γ therapy.The culture became negative in 2 patients (33%) after initiating IFN-γ therapy; one at 8 weeks, and the other at 24 weeks.Finally, after stopping the IFN-γ therapy after 28 weeks, the culture became positive again in the two patients who were culture-negative.The other 4 patients who failed in the culture conversion are still on antituberculous…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Deciphering the Resistome of the Widespread Pseudomonas aeruginosa Sequence Type 175 International High-Risk Clone through Whole-Genome Sequencing
- Laboratory-based nationwide surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in Ghana
- Phenotypic characterization of an international Pseudomonas aeruginosa reference panel: strains of cystic fibrosis (CF) origin show less in vivo virulence than non-CF strains
- Incidence and factors associated with development of phlebitis: results of a pilot study cohort
- Efficacy of triple therapy with a proton pump inhibitor, levofloxacin, and amoxicillin as first-line treatment to eradicate Helicobacter pylori
- Ten-Day versus 14-Day Levofloxacin-Containing Triple Therapy for Second-Line Anti-Helicobacter pyloriEradication in Taiwan
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.