Treating Tuberculosis With the Lipid Lowering Drug Atorvastatin in Nigeria(ATORvastatin in Pulmonary TUBerculosis)
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2021-11-30
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by mycobacterial organism. It is the leading infectious disease
cause of death globally, with more than 10 million new cases and over 2 million deaths
annually. Developing countries bear the greatest brunt of the disease. The long duration of
current treatment is associated with poor compliance, thereby contributing to frequent
relapses and to the emergence of drug-resistant TB. In addition, individuals who have been
clinically cured may have lung damage, which could be permanent. Therefore, new and more
effective therapeutic agents against TB are needed. Emerging evidence has shown that lipid
lowering drugs like statins can make the TB bacteria more susceptible to current treatments.
This proof-of-concept clinical trial will add the repurposed drug atorvastatin, commonly used
to reduce cholesterol levels, to the standard therapies of TB patients in Nigeria.
Atorvastatin is a well-tolerated and safe drug, and its addition is expected to accelerate
clearance of the TB-causing bacteria without additional side effects. If this research is
successful, it could provide evidence for using a common, easily available generic drug to
improve treatment of one of the most debilitating infectious diseases.
Phase:
Phase 2/Phase 3
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital
Collaborators:
Birmingham Heartlands Hospital Cures Within Reach Cures Within Reach, USA University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust