Glutathione and Reduced Bacterial Load

• Host-directed therapy for tuberculosis: Repurposed drugs toward global tuberculosis elimination.

  • 2026-06
  • Review
  • International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases 167
  • • Yi Hao Wong
    • Hai Tarng Chong
    • Ting Huey Hu
    • Catherine Wei Min Ong

  • PubMed: 41856464
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2026.108545

  1 Insight on

  • Reduced Bacterial Load

  • Low evidence

  This review synthesizes the mechanistic and clinical evidence supporting repurposed, affordable agents for use in high TB-burden, resource-limited settings. We categorize the HDT candidates by their targeted host pathways, including autophagy (metformin, vitamin D, all-trans retinoic acid), inflammatory signaling (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), immunomodulation (corticosteroids), matrix metalloproteinase inhibition (doxycycline), lipid metabolism (statins, PSCK9 inhibitors), tumor necrosis factor-⍺ inhibitors (adalimumab, infliximab), redox homeostasis (glutathione, N-acetylcysteine), and immunothrombosis.

  Effect

  Beneficial

  Effect size

  Moderate

  Significant

  Yes