Immune Responses and Effect of Disulfiram on MTB Infected PBMCs as a Potential Host Directed Therapy

Dr. Mandar Paradkar is lead investigator for this study that is assessing the immune responses of adult pulmonary TB patients enrolled in the CTRIUMPh study, using PBMC samples of those with harmful use of alcohol assessed by AUDIT scores ≥ 8 compared to non-alcoholics (AUDIT < 8).

Aim 1: To assess immune responses among adult PTB patients with harmful alcohol use defined by an AUDIT score ≥ 8 compared to those with AUDIT scores < 8 at the time of treatment initiation.

Aim 2: To assess the effects of disulfiram on Mtb growth in PBMCs of alcoholic and non-alcoholic individuals.

Study design: 
We will conduct a cross-sectional study using already collected CTRIUMPh data (baseline demographic, clinical) and archived whole blood PBMC samples fromthe baselinevisit to assess those with and without harmful use of alcohol as assessed by AUDIT scores ≥8.Immunophenotyping will be performed by flow cytometry and Mass cytometry (CyTOF). Additional plasma cytokine and chemokine as well as RNA sequencing will also be considered.