Macrophages colonisés par Mycobacterium tuberculosis © Denis Fenistein-Priscille Brodin (Inserm)
According to WHO, tuberculosis is one of the 10 main causes of death in the world. In 2015, 10.4 million people were suffering from this illness and 1.8 million died. Furthermore, tuberculosis is the main cause of death in people who are HIV positive.
According to WHO, a third of the world population has latent tuberculosis. In 5 to 10% of cases, the Koch bacillus (mycobacterium tuberculosis) becomes active, particularly in people whose immune systems are compromised and who have a much higher risk of developing the disease.
Faced with this major health problem, Inserm researchers are getting together to advance the research, particularly with the issue of multi-resistant strains of the agent to antibiotics.
Researchers from Inserm Unit 1019 at the Lille Centre for Infection and Immunity
(CNRS/Institut Pasteur Lille/Inserm/University of Lille) have invented a prototype drug SMARt-420 that can eliminate resistance to ethionamide, an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis.
Read the press release “Tuberculosis and antibiotic resistance: researchers In Lille invent a new prototype drug,” published 16 March.
See the information pack on tuberculosis, devised in collaboration with Camille Locht, microbiologist and Director of the Lille Centre for Infection and Immunity, Inserm Unit 1019 (CNRS/Institut Pasteur Lille/Inserm/Lille University).
A team of researchers from the Lille Centre for Infection and Immunity (CNRS/Institut Pasteur Lille/Inserm/Lille University) and from the Institute of Systematics, Evolution and Biodiversity (CNRS/National Museum of Natural History/UPMC/EPHE) is interested in the evolutionary history of the mycobacterium responsible for tuberculosis, particularly the so-called Beijing lineage associated with the propagation of multidrug resistant TB in Eurasia.
See press release: “The origins of multi-drug resistant strains uncovered,” published 19 January 2015.
These contents could be interesting :