Host-directed Therapy for Tuberculosis: Repurposed Drugs towards Global Tuberculosis Elimination.

Publication date: Mar 17, 2026

Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) End TB Strategy, tuberculosis (TB) remains the world’s leading infectious cause of death. Conventional antimicrobial therapies are hindered by prolonged treatment durations, poor patient adherence, and drug toxicity. Host-directed therapies (HDTs) have therefore emerged as a promising adjunctive strategy aimed to enhance bacterial clearance, reduce immunopathology, and improve functional recovery. This review synthesises the mechanistic and clinical evidence supporting repurposed, affordable agents for use in high TB-burden, resource-limited settings. We categorise the HDT candidates by their targeted host pathways, including autophagy (metformin, vitamin D, all-trans retinoic acid), inflammatory signalling (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), immunomodulation (corticosteroids), matrix metalloproteinase inhibition (doxycycline), lipid metabolism (statins, PSCK9 inhibitors), TNF-⍺ inhibitors (adalimumab, infliximab), redox homeostasis (glutathione, N-acetylcysteine), and immunothrombosis. We further highlight their relevance across pulmonary TB and extrapulmonary TB, their potential benefits in TB-associated comorbidities such as HIV and diabetes mellitus, and key findings from randomised controlled trials. However, transitioning these agents into standard clinical practice requires large-scale, stratified Phase III trials. Integrating HDTs alongside conventional antimicrobial therapy will be essential to accelerate the progress towards global TB elimination.

Semantics

Original Article