New Breakthrough in TB Treatment: Scientists Develop Innovative Method to Deliver Drugs Directly to the Brain

New Delhi: Indian researchers have discovered a revolutionary way to deliver tuberculosis (TB) medicines directly to the brain, overcoming the challenges posed by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This innovation promises to significantly improve treatment outcomes for patients suffering from Central Nervous System Tuberculosis (CNS-TB), one of the most severe and life-threatening forms of the disease.

CNS-TB occurs when TB bacteria infect the brain, often leading to severe complications or even death. A key challenge in treating CNS-TB is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a natural defense mechanism that prevents many medicines from entering the brain, reducing the effectiveness of traditional anti-TB treatments.

Current treatment methods rely on high doses of oral anti-TB drugs, which struggle to reach effective concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid due to the restrictive nature of the BBB. Recognizing this limitation, a team of scientists from the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), developed a new drug delivery system that bypasses the BBB entirely.

Led by researchers Rahul Kumar Verma, Krishna Jadhav, Agrim Jhilta, and their team, the scientists created chitosan nano-aggregates—tiny clusters of nanoparticles made from chitosan, a natural and biodegradable material. These nano-aggregates were designed for easy nasal delivery, offering a direct route for the TB drugs to reach the brain by bypassing the BBB.

The innovative technique, known as Nose-to-Brain (N2B) drug delivery, leverages the olfactory and trigeminal nerve pathways in the nasal cavity to transport drugs directly into the brain. The nano-aggregates, containing commonly used TB drugs like isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (RIF), stick to the nasal mucosa, ensuring prolonged drug release and enhanced therapeutic effectiveness.

The nasal delivery method proved highly effective when tested in the lab. The nano-aggregates delivered significantly more medicine to the brain than traditional TB treatments. In animal trials, the nasal delivery of these nanoparticles reduced the bacterial load in the brains of infected mice by nearly 1,000 times compared to untreated cases.

This new method, published in the journal Nanoscale (Royal Society of Chemistry), is the first to show that TB drugs delivered through the nasal cavity using advanced nano-aggregates can effectively treat brain TB. Besides improving drug delivery, the treatment also helps reduce inflammation caused by the infection, offering a targeted and efficient solution to a previously untreatable condition.

The discovery not only holds great promise for treating brain TB but could also have applications in treating other brain-related conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases (including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s), brain tumors, and epilepsy, by enabling more effective drug delivery to the brain.

This breakthrough represents a significant step forward in the fight against brain TB and could lead to faster recovery and better outcomes for patients worldwide.