DEVELOPING NEW DIAGNOSTICS AND THERAPIES TO TREAT TUBERCULOSIS AND INFLAMMATORY DISEASE Bernadette Saunders University of Technology Sydney science.uts.edu.au
RESEARCH FOCUS • Macrophage (White Blood Cell) Function • Response to bacteria like tuberculosis (TB) • Role in regulating host response to disease • Inflammation and Disease progression • Biomarkers of Tuberculosis Infection • Testing new blood based markers as a means to diagnose active TB disease and predict response to treatment • Testing New Drugs against TB infection
MACROPHAGE FUNCTION science.uts.edu.au
MACROPHAGE FUNCTION Macrophages- White blood Cells that eat pathogens like TB Our Group studies how these cells Kill TB and regulate inflammation Expertise in growing and analysing human and murine macrophages, Testing new molecules to see if these increase the killing function of macrophages science.uts.edu.au
DEVELOPING NEW BIOMARKERS OF TUBERCULOSIS science.uts.edu.au
TB- BIOMARKERS ‘ Biomarkers are characteristic biological features that can be objectively measured and indicate either normal or diseased processes in the body’. What makes a good biomarker Easy to measure Stable Accurate, reliable Indicative of disease, or disease status Predictive of outcome Options blood, saliva, sputum, urine.
TUBERCULOSIS DISEASE science.uts.edu.au
TUBERCULOSIS: NOW AND THEN In 1850’s it is estimated that 1 in 4 deaths in Europe were due to TB. Today there is a vaccine against TB We have antibiotics that can cure TB We also have 2 billion individuals globally who are infected with TB 9 million new cases of active TB in 2014 and 1.5 million deaths Australia TB cases in 2013: 1267, Multi-Drug Resistant TB 22
TB CHALLENGES We Need A Better VACCINE- We Need New ANTIBIOTICS to treat and cure TB We Need New DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS •To predict those at high risk of reactivation •To predict treatment outcomes
BIOMARKER STUDY Sample Collection • Collecting 5mls blood from 100 TB patients at 4 time points -At diagnosis, 1 , 2 and 6 months (completion of standard treatment) 100 matched healthy controls Questionnaire and Chest X-ray at time 0 and 6 mths, smear and bacterial culture for TB bacteria
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China (red) Infectious Disease Hospital ~3000 new TB patients/year
MIRNA EXPRESSION IS MODULATED DURING TB INFECTION
TESTING NEW DRUGS AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS science.uts.edu.au
NEED FOR NEW ANTI-TUBERCULOSIS DRUGS No new drugs listed for the treatment of primary drug-sensitive tuberculosis in over 50 year Current therapy is 4 antibiotics given for 6 months Problems with compliance are a major issue- has led to increased drug resistance We are working with colleagues in Australia and India to test potential anti- tuberculosis drugs Level 3 biohazard containment facilities Human studies and mouse models of infection Macrophage function expertise science.uts.edu.au
SAUNDERS RESEARCH TEAM CONTACTS: Dr Bernadette Saunders Bernadette.saunders@uts.edu.au Dr Nilesh Bokil Nilesh.Bokil@UTS.edu.au science.uts.edu.au
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