Roflumilast, a Type 4 Phosphodiesterase Inhibitor, Shows Promising Adjunctive, Host-Directed Therapeutic Activity in a Mouse Model of Tuberculosis

Abstract

With phosphodiesterase inhibitors (PDE-Is) showing significant promise in shortening tuberculosis treatment, we assessed the effect of roflumilast, an FDA-approved type 4 PDE-I, in both acute and chronic murine models of tuberculosis. Alone, roflumilast had no effect on lung bacillary burden and mortality. However, when roflumilast was used in combination with isoniazid, a reduction in lung bacillary burden was observed. These data suggest that roflumilast may be a good candidate for tuberculosis host-directed therapy (HDT).