Heterodimeric compounds with dual-targeting active against both HIV and tuberculosis.

Both HIV and Tuberculosis are considered to be one of the most dangerous infectious diseases in the world. Quite often these two pathogens work in synchrony, making the risk of patient´s death twice as high. To solve this problem researchers from the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular biology in Russia cooperated with the National Institute of Health in the USA. They created compounds with dual activity against both pathogens by creating a heterodimer based on nucleosides. These heterodimers have two active components with two different rates of release based on the speed of their hydrolysis. They tested five of such compounds on HIV and Tuberculosis strain MS-114, which is drug-resistance. Drug-resistance of tuberculosis is one of the main problems in the treatment nowadays.

The compounds were judged based on the ability to inhibit these pathogens. Additionally, a testing on the host tissue was done using NovoCyte. The researchers tested the viability of mammalian lymphoid tissue after treatment. The results show that the heterodimers are non-toxic and non-static towards the cells while maintaining the potency against the pathogens. So far the compound was tested in vivo and ex vitro and seem to be a very promising solution. These results bring interesting insight and novel approach toward treatment of both HIV and Tuberculosis.

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