Tuberculosis is a big concern globally because of its increasing prevalence and the rise in drug resistance. In contrast, a few new drugs are being developed, but the University of the Western Cape (UWC) may have a solution.

A research group led by Associate Professor Admire Dube at UWC's School of Pharmacy are developing a new way of treating TB: applying nanoparticles to achieve immunotherapy and targeted drugs to the lungs.
 

"Let us look at a different way of treating TB where we can activate the patient's immune system so that the immune system can fight the bacteria," Prof Dube told the Precision Medicine symposium on campus this week.

The event, which took place from 27-30 March, brought together researchers from UWC, the University of Ghent in Belgium and the United States-based University of Missouri to share their current work on therapeutic targets. Precision medicine has been defined as “an emerging practice of medicine that uses an individual’s genetic profile to guide decisions made about the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease".

Prof Dube said that in their research, they deliver compounds that can activate the cells that are keeping TB and have seen the TB bacteria dying.
 
"There are no antibiotics, no rifampicin involved, but the bacteria are dying, and the immune system is changed and modulated because of nanoparticles."

A National Research Foundation-rated scientist, Prof Dube, also revealed that another part of their approach shows that they can still have this immune activation but at the same time have the TB drug inside these nanoparticles to have a dual approach called 'kick and punch'. We have the immune system that is activated (kick), and then the drug is released through the antibiotic that a patient can take all the time (punch) so that we can try and kill the bacteria more quickly and effectively". 

"These nanoparticles," Prof Dube added, "give us targeted delivery of drugs which are very interesting in precision medicine. "Let us get the right drugs at the right place, time, and nowhere else it is not supposed to be. Where the bacteria and where the infections are". 

The symposium's purpose was to promote Trans-institutional collaborative research. Prof Dube and his team will tap into the work done by Dr Raghuraman Kannan of the University of Missouri, Columbia campus.

Dr Kannan's research focused on understanding the mechanisms of drug resistance in lung and ovarian cancers and identifying therapeutic targets.

"You can make several kinds of nanoparticles because each one has its positives and negatives, just like cars," Prof Dube explained. "Dr Kannan and his team have developed nanoparticles in the US for cancer. It can also be effective in TB because it only goes to the lungs.

The UWC team intends to test their study in humans in the future "because we have data on how safe and effective it is in an animal model, so we think we can conduct testing on humans so that one day it can be a treatment that humans can use. There are exciting times ahead, and we appreciate the support we get from UWC."

In his address, UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor Professor Tyrone Pretorius said the symposium was vital as it offered colleagues the opportunity to share their research in precision medicine across disciplines and various research fields.

“At UWC, our mission is to contribute to the grand challenges of our time, and one of those challenges is the burden of diseases. We are so pleased that we can make a small contribution to these challenges, in collaboration with the University of Missouri and the University of Ghent. I have always held the view that the grand challenges of our time are not going to be addressed by a solitary, lonely individual working in a small, confined space in the lab. It will only be addressed by multi-disciplinary teams across a whole range of fields.”
 

Images by UWC Media