Alternative Therapies for Mycobacteriosis: Beyond Antibiotics and Host-Directed Approaches

Mycobacteriosis, which encompasses tuberculosis, leprae and nontuberculous mycobacteriosis, presents significant challenges due to the chronic nature of these infections and the lengthy antibiotic courses required for treatment. Many antibiotics effective against mycobacteria come with severe adverse effects, leading to obstacles in treatment adherence.

Several antibiotics need to be administered concurrently to prevent the development of resistance, a goal often unmet due to lapses in treatment compliance. Patients infected with multidrug resistant mycobacteria are notoriously difficult to manage and treat, frequently resulting in fatal outcomes.

The main current strategy to deal with this challenge has been the pursuit of new antibiotics, yet resistance inevitably surfaces despite advances. Recently, there has been a paradigm shift towards host-directed therapies, which employ existing pharmaceuticals to enhance immune cellular functions, allowing the host to combat mycobacterial infections effectively.

Beyond these therapies, cutting-edge research has yielded promising results, such as mycobacteriophages, which have demonstrated specificity and potential safety but require further clinical investigation to establish wide applicability.

This Research Topic will aim to explore and elucidate innovative therapeutic strategies beyond conventional antibiotic treatments for mycobacterial infections. It seeks to address crucial questions regarding the development and effectiveness of host-directed therapies and other emerging alternatives such as mycobacteriophages, antimicrobial peptides, and anti-biofilm strategies. By testing various hypotheses surrounding the mechanisms and efficacy of these novel treatments, the Research Topic aspires to uncover solutions that can directly inhibit mycobacterial growth or enhance the efficacy of existing antibiotics. Ultimately, this endeavor hopes to contribute toward reducing antibiotic resistance and decreasing the frequency of infection relapses in mycobacteriosis.

To gather further insights in the breadth of alternative therapies for mycobacteriosis, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Clinical applications of mycobacteriophages
• Potential applications of alternative therapies successfully used in other chronic infections
• Novel methods to control mycobacterial growth and biofilm formation
• Potential therapeutical measures to avoid infection relapses
• Discovery of new non-antibiotic molecules capable of inhibiting mycobacterial growth

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Host-directed therapies (HDT), Mycobacteriophages, Multidrug-resistant mycobacteria, Antibiotic Therapy, Immunomodulation and macrophage activation, Antibiotic resistance mitigation, Relapse prevention in mycobacteriosis

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.