Evaluation of novel therapeutic strategies to accelerate bacterial clearance and host recovery in disseminated HIV-associated tuberculosis

Many patients hospitalised with HIV infection and tuberculosis (TB) die despite receiving standard TB treatment. Most have disseminated TB that has spread from the lungs to the blood and other organs. 

We will evaluate four novel treatments in these patients. We will assess response to standard treatment using tests that quantify TB and disease severity markers in the blood and urine. We will select the best tests to measure the effect of treatments to use in Phase II clinical trials. We will then evaluate higher rifampicin doses, a key TB drug in standard treatment, with or without levofloxacin. We will also evaluate the anti-inflammatory prednisone and interleukin-7, which stimulates T-lymphocytes. 

We want to use our findings in a Phase III clinical trial with the goal of reducing deaths in patients with HIV and disseminated TB.