Clofazimine shortens the duration of the first-line treatment regimen for experimental chemotherapy of tuberculosis

The infectious disease tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem that affects millions of people worldwide. TB treatment consists of a multidrug regimen that needs to be taken for a minimum of 6 mo, and lack of adherence to this regimen is associated with treatment failure and emergence of drug resistance. In a mouse model of TB chemotherapy, we have found that inclusion of the antileprosy drug clofazimine in the first-line regimen for TB reduces the duration of treatment necessary to achieve relapse-free cure from 6 mo to 3 mo. Our data suggest that clofazimine, a drug already known to be safe for long-term administration to patients with leprosy, has the potential to significantly shorten the duration of TB treatment.