Improving Treatment of Mycobacterial Infections

Infections with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and tuberculosis (TB) are distinct mycobacterial diseases with clear differences in epidemiology, transmission, clinical picture, diagnosis and therapy. Nevertheless, they share several characteristics including the complexity of treatment.
Improving treatment success of mycobacterial infections requires a multifactorial approach, including recognition of underlying genetic or acquired host predispositions as well as different treatment strategies to increase antimycobacterial drug efficacy. In this context, it is crucial to compose an optimal predictive preclinical modelling framework, allowing rapid and reliable identification of the potency of novel antimycobacterial agents and their translation into clinical practice. Such a modelling framework is currently under construction for anti-TB drugs.