TB Treatment: Peat Bogs and Funding Cuts – Serene’s Synopsis 116
Mycobacterium tuberculosis kills more than a million people each year despite its many cures. Patients face challenges in their diagnosis, care, and treatment, especially with the rise of drug-resistance. Drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) was only cured in about 63% of cases worldwide using treatments in 2023, but a new combination of drugs provides hope for victims of the disease. This new regimen, named BPal, which includes the TB treatments bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid, has cured 94.5% of patients that receive it. BPal also drastically reduces the length of treatment from 18 months to six months, which is incredible for a disease like TB, a disease that often warrants painful injections and thousands of pills to treat.
In addition to new combinations of drugs, researchers are looking for new ways to attack Mycobacterium tuberculosis, aiming to shorten treatment times. One team of researchers turned to nature for advice on how to tackle the bacillus.
The Mycobacterium genus is prevalent in sphagnum peat bogs, so researchers sought out organisms that compete with mycobacteria, as they might have evolved defenses against them. Fungi grow alongside mycobacteria in gray layers, with environmental conditions similar to that of lesions in TB patients’ lungs. Researchers collected about 1,500 species of fungi from several bogs across the US and cultivated each species with Mycobacterium tuberculosis to see their effects, finding five fungi that produced toxins to the bacillus. These toxins, patulin, citrinin, and nidulalin A, impact tuberculosis by disrupting thiols, which are compounds essential for bacterial survival. While researchers don’t think these toxins are likely to make good drugs, their mechanism of thiol interference can be used to shorten treatment times, which would be crucial for a disease with exhausting and often painful treatments.
DR-TB is a major issue, but the main reason that TB kills is because patients can’t access treatment. More than 80% of children that die from TB never receive treatment, and this year, the current US administration is actively taking away treatment from countless individuals. On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order halting all foreign aid, resulting in a permanent cancellation of 83% of USAID contracts a few weeks later. Withholding USAID funding is lethal news for TB patients, and it is estimated that this change alone will cause one person will die from TB every 7.7 minutes. This decision not only decreases the number of people that will survive infection from the disease, but also increases drug resistance in those that were already receiving treatment, but cannot access it anymore. They are more likely to die from the disease, and if it is passed on, it will be harder than ever to treat. The decision to withhold USAID funding is reckless because it will hurt people now and in the future, which is especially frightening for a disease known for its evolved resistance.
If people are already requiring more and more intense drug regimens for a decent chance to kill the tuberculosis bacteria, what will happen if we prime the bacteria by letting it sample the drugs before quitting cold turkey? Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to die from the administration’s decision to pull USAID funding from TB and HIV alone. It’s so devastating to know that, along with the regression of our own country, the President’s decisions are dooming countless individuals around the globe. And who knows, maybe TB will evolve so much resistance it comes back to the US and we can’t treat it. Such a shame that this is a choice that we, US citizens, made.
In addition to disease outreach, USAID cuts have also made rippling effects elsewhere, such as in disease-resistant cassava. My advisor Dr. Nigel Taylor at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, where I will start my internship this Tuesday, was conducting research on GM cassava thanks to USAID funding of the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project.
Of course, it is encouraging to hear about the new scientific advancements made, which can enhance the treatment process and its outcomes. It’s just frustrating to know that we have the capacity to do so much to combat this disease, and yet choose not to. Just another reminder to vote for the causes you care about. Stay tuned to learn with me!
Peat bogs: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241203153925.htm
USAID cut estimates: https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2025/tracking-anticipated-deaths-from-usaid-funding-cuts/
Cassava funding cuts: https://www.danforthcenter.org/news/the-impact-of-policy-shifts-on-farmers-and-global-food-security/