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Longstanding effort by Uva scientists to combat Tuberculosis makes progress

Uva scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine are making progress in their efforts to combat tuberculosis. Their research reveals the crucial role of malnutrition in tuberculosis therapy and the need to target gut microbes for improved treatment outcomes. The researchers have received a $1.25 million grant to train Tanzanian postdoctoral researchers in the connection between malnutrition and tuberculosis. This collaborative effort aims to produce discoveries that will benefit the battle against poverty-related diseases worldwide. Learn more about their groundbreaking work.

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While the spotlight is on COVID-19 and now monkeypox, tuberculosis remains one of the world's most serious infectious disease threats. According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis will kill over 1.5 million people by 2020. In that year, TB mortality increased for the first time in more than a decade. Doctors and scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, on the other hand, are making significant progress in their long-standing efforts to better understand, prevent, and treat tuberculosis, and they've received a $1.25 million boost to train the next generation of front-line soldiers in the disease's war.

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Malnutrition's role in Tuberculosis

The new findings of the researchers highlight the essential role of malnutrition in global tuberculosis. In a new paper published in the scientific journal The Lancet Microbe, UVA researchers and their Tanzanian collaborators reveal how malnutrition and gut infections impede tuberculosis therapy for young children. The researchers discovered that children with frequent gut infections have lower concentrations of important TB drugs in their bodies – and the more infections they have, the lower the concentration. 

Based on these revolutionary findings, practitioners may be able to target gut microbes to improve tuberculosis treatment outcomes, according to the researchers. Malnutrition, according to the study, is a significant contributor to tuberculosis. According to the authors of a paper published in the scientific journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, malnutrition is a "leading risk factor" for contracting the disease. They believe there is an urgent need to learn more about how nutritional deficiencies damage the immune system. This information would shed light on how starvation and "undernutrition" affect the efficacy of tuberculosis immunizations and medicines.

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In their report, Heysell and his co-authors call for immediate action to tackle malnutrition and undernutrition: "The task should excite rather than terrify governments, non-governmental organizations, charitable foundations, and scholars. A rapid increase in funding and research is required "They create. "The reward might be enormous. 

Investments in eliminating undernutrition are expected to have long-term benefits that go far beyond their impact on tuberculosis and can be transformative, especially in low-income areas. We should remember a Haitian proverb: 'Giving tuberculosis medicine but not food is like washing your hands and drying them in the dirt.'"

Future generation education

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Based in part on the new tuberculosis discoveries, the National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center has awarded the UVA scientists a $1.25 million grant to deepen a longtime training partnership with their Tanzanian counterparts. The vital money will allow the partnership to train Tanzanian postdoctoral researchers who will focus on the connection between malnutrition and tuberculosis.

Similar collaborative techniques at UVA's Division of Infectious Diseases and Center for Global Health Equity have trained 177 international students at various academic stages during the preceding decade. Almost all of them continue to work in research. "Putting international trainee education in global health first benefits us all," Heysell said. "In areas of disproportionate poverty, we can do more to follow in the footsteps of young scientists."

One of the program's strengths is its diversity. Eleven members of the faculty are from the University of Virginia, and seven are from Tanzania. There are eight of them who are female. This enables the programme to connect postdocs with Tanzanian mentors as well as secondary UVA mentors, providing trainees with access to a diverse spectrum of experience and expertise. The programme will be led by Heysell and Stellah Mpagama, MD, PhD, chief of research and innovation at Tanzania's Kibong'oto Infectious Diseases Hospital, adjunct faculty at UVA, and the Dr. Maria Kamm Best Female Scientist in Tanzania for 2022.

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"Through this programme, Tanzanians will be able to develop research leaders who will push forward the country's 'End TB' goal," Mpagama continued. "The collaborative research we conducted over the last decade educated us immensely on the various factors impeding TB control. The next steps are to build research leaders while also finding answers to ensure that scientific effort to address this long-standing epidemic continues."

The researchers are excited about the potential of the training cooperation to not only help prevent and treat tuberculosis in Tanzania but also to produce discoveries that will benefit the battle against poverty-related diseases worldwide.

"As old human situations go, hunger and disease don't make headlines very often," Heysell explained. "However, our joint progress in improving these conditions acts as a barometer of our progress in lowering other social inequities."

In terms of the Tanzania Tuberculosis effort

UVA teachers and staff involved in the training partnership include Rebecca Dillingham, Tania Thomas, Eric Houpt, James Platts-Mills, Marcel Durieux, Amber Steen, Mark DeBoer, and Richard Guerrant, Rebecca Scharf, Margaret Kosek, Christopher Moore, and Megan Null Toerien. Both the Office of the Provost and the School of Medicine at UVA support the project.

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