• Francesca Conradie, Tatevik R Bagdasaryan, Sergey Borisov, Pauline Howell, Lali Mikiashvili, Nosipho Ngubane, Anastasia Samoilova, Sergey Skornykova, Elena Tudor, Ebrahim Variava, Petr Yablonskiy, Daniel Everitt, Genevieve H Wills, Eugene Sun, Morounfolu Olugbosi, Erica Egizi, Mengchun Li, Alda Holsta, Juliano Timm, Anna Bateson, Angela M Crook, Stella M Fabiane, Robert Hunt, Timothy D McHugh, Conor D Tweed, Salah Foraida, Carl M Mendel, Melvin Spigelman, and ZeNix Trial Team.
• From the Clinical HIV Research Unit (F.C., P.H.) and Klerksdorp-Tshepong Hospital Complex, Department of Internal Medicine (E.V.), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, the Clinical HIV Research Unit, King DinuZulu Hospital, Durban (N.N.), and the TB Alliance, Pretoria (M.O.) - all in South Africa; the Central TB Research Institute of the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations Moscow (T.R.B.), Moscow City Research and Practice Tuberculosis Treatment Center (S.B.), and National Medical Research Center of Phthisiopulmonology and Infectious Diseases (A.S.), Moscow, Ural Research Institute of Phthisiopulmonology, Yekaterinburg (S.S.), and St. Petersburg Research Institute of Phthisiopulmonology, St. Petersburg (P.Y.) - all in Russia; the National Center for Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Tbilisi, Georgia (L.M.); the Chiril Draganiuc Institute of Phthisiopneumology, Chisinau, Moldova (E.T.); the TB Alliance, New York (D.E., E.S., E.E., M.L., A.H., J.T., S.F., C.M.M., M.S.); and the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit at University College London (G.H.W., A.M.C., S.M.F., C.D.T.) and the University College London Centre for Clinical Microbiology (A.B., R.H., T.D.M.), University College London, London.
• N. Engl. J. Med. 2022 Sep 1; 387 (9): 810823810-823.

BackgroundThe bedaquiline-pretomanid-linezolid regimen has been reported to have 90% efficacy against highly drug-resistant tuberculosis, but the incidence of adverse events with 1200 mg of linezolid daily has been high. The appropriate dose of linezolid and duration of treatment with this agent to minimize toxic effects while maintaining efficacy against highly drug-resistant tuberculosis are unclear.MethodsWe enrolled participants with extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (i.e., resistant to rifampin, a fluoroquinolone, and an aminoglycoside), pre-XDR tuberculosis (i.e., resistant to rifampin and to either a fluoroquinolone or an aminoglycoside), or rifampin-resistant tuberculosis that was not responsive to treatment or for which a second-line regimen had been discontinued because of side effects. We randomly assigned the participants to receive bedaquiline for 26 weeks (200 mg daily for 8 weeks, then 100 mg daily for 18 weeks), pretomanid (200 mg daily for 26 weeks), and daily linezolid at a dose of 1200 mg for 26 weeks or 9 weeks or 600 mg for 26 weeks or 9 weeks. The primary end point in the modified intention-to-treat population was the incidence of an unfavorable outcome, defined as treatment failure or disease relapse (clinical or bacteriologic) at 26 weeks after completion of treatment. Safety was also evaluated.ResultsA total of 181 participants were enrolled, 88% of whom had XDR or pre-XDR tuberculosis. Among participants who received bedaquiline-pretomanid-linezolid with linezolid at a dose of 1200 mg for 26 weeks or 9 weeks or 600 mg for 26 weeks or 9 weeks, 93%, 89%, 91%, and 84%, respectively, had a favorable outcome; peripheral neuropathy occurred in 38%, 24%, 24%, and 13%, respectively; myelosuppression occurred in 22%, 15%, 2%, and 7%, respectively; and the linezolid dose was modified (i.e., interrupted, reduced, or discontinued) in 51%, 30%, 13%, and 13%, respectively. Optic neuropathy developed in 4 participants (9%) who had received linezolid at a dose of 1200 mg for 26 weeks; all the cases resolved. Six of the seven unfavorable microbiologic outcomes through 78 weeks of follow-up occurred in participants assigned to the 9-week linezolid groups.ConclusionsA total of 84 to 93% of the participants across all four bedaquiline-pretomanid-linezolid treatment groups had a favorable outcome. The overall risk-benefit ratio favored the group that received the three-drug regimen with linezolid at a dose of 600 mg for 26 weeks, with a lower incidence of adverse events reported and fewer linezolid dose modifications. (Funded by the TB Alliance and others; ZeNix ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03086486.).Copyright © 2022 Massachusetts Medical Society.

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