Randomized, placebo-controlled Phase II trial of heat-killed Mycobacterium vaccae (Immodulon batch) formulated as an oral pill (V7).

AIM: A 1-month Phase II trial was conducted in 41 patients with pulmonary TB who were randomized into treatment (n = 20) and placebo (n = 21) arms to investigate the safety and efficacy of an orally-administered therapeutic TB vaccine (V7) containing 10 µg heat-killed Mycobacterium vaccae provided by Immodulon Therapeutics Ltd (London, UK). MATERIALS & METHODS: Both arms received conventional anti-TB therapy administered along with a daily pill of V7 or placebo. The subject population had four categories of TB: drug-sensitive TB; retreated TB; drug-resistant TB; and TB with HIV distributed in V7 and placebo arms at 9:4:7:6 and 14:1:6:8 ratios, respectively. RESULTS: The mycobacterial clearance in sputum smears was observed in 72.2% (p < 0.0001) and 19% (p = 0.03) of patients on V7 and placebo, respectively. The average weight accrual among V7 recipients was 2.6 kg (p = 0.002) versus -0.2 kg (p = 0.69) in the control group. Except reduction in fever and increased lymphocyte counts, the changes in other secondary end points, such as hemoglobin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and leukocyte counts, were not statistically different, although the proportion of patients responding favorably to V7 was invariably higher compared with placebo (p = 0.002). In control patients, no difference from baseline levels was noted except decreased hemoglobin content (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Oral M. vaccae was safe and has potential as an adjunct immunotherapy, targeting mucosal immunity, to improve efficacy and shorten treatment duration of TB chemotherapy.

Randomized, placebo-controlled phase II trial of heat-killed Mycobacterium vaccae (Longcom batch) formulated as an oral pill (V7).

One-month Phase II trial was conducted in 43 sputum smear-positive patients with pulmonary tuberculosis randomized into treatment (n = 22) and placebo (n = 21) arms to investigate the safety and efficacy of an orally-administered therapeutic TB vaccine (V7) containing 10 µg of heat-killed Mycobacterium vaccae provided by Longcom company. Immunotherapy and control groups comprised 8 newly diagnosed (1stDx TB; 18.6%), 6 re-treated (RTB; 14%), and 29 multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB; 67.4%) cases distributed at 5:4:13 and 3:2:16 ratios, respectively. Both arms received conventional TB drugs administered under directly observed therapy. The average weight gain in V7 arm was modest, but statistically significant (0.6 kg; p = 0.004), while placebo patients lost 0.1 kg (p = 0.77). Except defervescence and increased lymphocyte percentage, other secondary endpoints such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), leukocyte counts and hemoglobin content were not significantly affected. In control patients only one secondary endpoint, ESR, has improved. After one month mycobacterial clearance in sputum smears was observed in 31.8% (p = 0.03) and 9.5% (p = 0.83) of patients on V7 and placebo. However, the difference between outcomes in two arms was below significance threshold (p = 0.07). Thus, larger population of patients with prolonged follow-up is required to support these preliminary findings.

Adjunct immune therapy of first-diagnosed TB, relapsed TB, treatment-failed TB, multidrug-resistant TB and TB/HIV.

AIM: To evaluate the effect of an adjunct immunotherapy in randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIb trial involving 123 TB patients. METHODS: Patients were randomly allocated into two arms: one (n = 62) received a once-daily pill of V-5 Immunitor™ (V5) and the other (control; n= 61) received placebo for 30 days in addition to first- or second-line TB drugs administered under directly observed therapy. The subjects in V5 and placebo arms had first-diagnosed, relapsed, treatment-failed and multidrug-resistant TB at ratios of 17:21:11:13 and 20:19:14:8, respectively; among them, ten and seven had HIV coinfection, respectively. RESULTS: After 1 month, 55 out of 62 patients (88.7%) became sputum smear-negative in the V5 arm (p < 0.0001), whereas in the placebo group, nine out of 61 (14.8%) had converted. The conversion rate among V5 recipients was similar, regardless of whether TB was drug-sensitive, drug-resistant or with HIV. V5 downregulated TB-associated inflammation, as shown by the normalization of elevated leukocyte counts (8.7 vs 6.3 × 10 (9)/l; p < 0.0001) and decreased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (22.8 vs 12.6 mm/h; p < 0.0001), whereas among placebo recipients, changes were smaller (8.9 vs 8.2 × 10 (9)/l and 25.1 vs 19.9 mm/h). Thirty three (54.1%) placebo patients gained on average 0.8 kg (p = 0.0002); by contrast, 57 (91.9%) out of 62 patients in the V5 group gained a mean weight of 2.9 kg (p < 0.0001). No adverse side effects or reactivation of TB were seen at any time. CONCLUSION: V5 is safe and effective as an immune adjunct to chemotherapy for TB and can potentially reduce the treatment duration down to 1 month.

Clinical validation of sublingual formulations of Immunoxel (Dzherelo) as an adjuvant immunotherapy in treatment of TB patients.

Immunoxel (Dzherelo) is a water-alcohol extract of medicinal plants used in Ukraine as an adjunct immunotherapy to TB and HIV therapy. Four types of solid sublingual formulations of Immunoxel were made: sugar dragées, sugar-coated pills, gelatin pastilles and dried-honey lozenges. They were administered once-daily along with TB drugs. After 1 month, 84.1% of TB patients became sputum-negative with rates in individual groups of 89.5, 70, 76.9 and 100%, respectively. The conversion rate was independent of bodyweight, age, gender, differences in chemotherapy regimens or whether subjects had newly diagnosed TB, re-treated TB, multidrug-resistant TB or TB with HIV coinfection. Patients experienced earlier clinical improvement, faster defervescence, weight gain, a higher hemoglobin content and reduced inflammation as evidenced by lower leukocyte counts and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. By contrast, in the placebo group, only 19% of patients had converted. These findings imply that mucosal delivery of solid Immunoxel is equivalent to the original liquid formula given per os twice-daily for 2-4 months.

Adjunct oral immunotherapy in patients with re-treated, multidrug-resistant or HIV-coinfected TB.

This Phase IIb, placebo-controlled study involved 55 TB patients treated with anti-TB therapy. They were divided into two groups, matched by age, gender, baseline bodyweight and clinical manifestations: one group (n = 27) received a once-daily V-5 Immunitor (V5) immunotherapy pill and the other (n = 28) received placebo. Only one (3.7%) and three (10.7%) subjects in V5 and placebo arms, respectively had first-diagnosed, drug-sensitive TB; the remaining patients had re-treated TB, multidrug-resistant TB or HIV-TB coinfection. After 1 month, 26 out of 27 patients (96.3%) became sputum smear negative in the V5 group (p < 0.0000001), whereas seven out of 28 (25%) in the placebo group had converted (p = 0.005). V5 contributed to the downregulation of TB-associated inflammation, as shown by normalization of high leukocyte counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and faster defervescence than controls. Patients in both arms experienced an increase in the levels of hemoglobin corresponding to 128.9 ± 17.6 versus 133.1 ± 14.7 g/l (p = 0.03) and 112.6 ± 14 versus 117 ± 11.7 g/l (p = 0.03) in V5 and placebo arms, respectively. In total, 19 out of 28 placebo patients (67.9%) gained, on average, 1.07 kg (59.1 ± 10 vs 60.1 ± 10.4 kg; p = 0.003). By contrast, all patients in the V5 group gained weight with mean 3.4 kg (59.7 ± 8 vs 63.1 ± 9 kg; p = 5.7E-007). Clinical symptoms improved among all patients in V5 arm, while 28.6% of patients on placebo reported satisfactory results (p = 0.007). No adverse or side effects attributable to V5 were seen at any time. Further studies are needed to gauge the extent of the benefits of V5 as safe and effective adjunct immunotherapy for TB.

Enhancement of efficacy of tuberculosis drugs with Immunoxel (Dzherelo) in HIV-infected patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis.

Immunoxel (Dzherelo) is an oral, herbal immunomodulator used in Ukraine for adjunct therapy of infectious and autoimmune diseases. Antiretroviral drug-naive, tuberculosis (TB)/HIV coinfected patients with active pulmonary TB were divided into two arms, A (n = 20) and B (n = 20), to receive first-line anti-TB therapy (ATT) or ATT + Dzherelo, respectively. As a result, three (16%) versus 12 (67%; p = 0.003) patients had Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture conversion, with time to negative culture of 6 and 4 months in arms A and B, respectively. In the ATT-alone arm, the healing of pulmonary cavitations was observed in 25% of patients at weeks 24-28, while 60% of individuals in arm B healed at 16-18 weeks (p = 0.025). The TB lesions, on chest x-ray, had cleared in 46 and 84%, with time-to-clearance of 24-28 and 16-18 weeks in arms A and B, respectively. In the ATT-alone arm, the bodyweight at baseline was 64 +/- 6.3 kg, with 13 cachexic patients who had an average weight deficit of -5.2 +/- 1.7 kg. At the end of 6 months of follow-up, they have lost an additional 0.6 kg (-5.8 +/- 2.4). The study entry-level weight in arm B was 52 +/- 5.7 kg, with 12 individuals who had a body mass deficit of -8.5 +/- 2.7 kg. The immunotherapeutic intervention increased bodyweight by an average of 5.8 +/- 2.6 kg above baseline (p < 0.0001). The inclusion of Dzherelo into the ATT regimen decreased the incidence of new opportunistic infections (OI) with three episodes of OI versus 12 in arm A (p = 0.003). These findings indicate that Dzherelo contributes positively to the clinical efficacy of TB drugs.