The US Food and Drug Administration awarded Colorado State University almost $500,000 to continue studies on a test that measures molecules in urine to determine whether TB treatment is working. The researchers look for large decreases in more than 50 small molecules present in the urine at the time of diagnosis. At present, doctors cannot tell whether treatment is effective until about two months after a patient has been taking antituberculosis drugs. According to principal investigator John Belisle, the researchers have identified a series of metabolites in TB patients’ urine that disappear or decrease in abundance when the patients respond to antituberculosis treatment. The grant would enable the scientists to continue working on the test so it can be used in clinical trials for new TB treatments, as well as predict whether or not patients will redevelop TB after completing treatment.
Colorado State University, www.news.colostate.edu, October 11, 2010, by Dell Rae Moellenberg, DellRae.Moellenberg@ColoState.EDU,
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