Two Compounds Kill Dormant TB, Could Lead To New Drugs, Study Says

Researchers identified "two compounds that can destroy a defense mechanism in the tuberculosis bacterium that allows it to remain dormant in infected cells," according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, Reuters reports. The compounds, which were among 20,000 studied by the researchers, block TB's "self-defense mechanism but do not harm human cells," the news service writes (Steenhuysen, 9/16). According to Agence France-Presse, the finding "could lead to new drugs that disable the microbe, which lies inactive in approximately two-thirds of the world's population" (9/16).

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com